


The Middle

by lovealways21



Series: Everything Is Not What It Seems [1]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 05:22:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 40,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/683308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovealways21/pseuds/lovealways21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months after Inception, Ariadne's cousin shows up on her doorstep with a black eye, confused and in need of many answers. Since there is nothing Ariadne wouldn't do for family, she automatically wants to do whatever she can to help. Even if that means turning her cousin into the team's newest client and unknowingly pulling the team into a very complicated job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Suspicious Minds

**Author's Note:**

> My first attempt at writing an Inception fanfic. It's OC, though, so I'm not sure exactly how it'll be percieved. But it's worth a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Identified by Vanessa Hudgens
> 
> "I got a confession  
> I can see through what you're doing  
> Had it right from the beginning  
> Got you identified  
> Come on over to me  
> Tell me now before you lose me  
> It's no secret you pursue me  
> Got you identified,"
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.

Sadie made her way through the apartment that up until that night she had shared with her boyfriend of two years. She was frantically and angrily throwing all of her things into suitcases, slamming doors, and stomping across the floor leaving a huge mess in her wake.

"Sadie, please just calm down and listen to me," Nate said, running to keep up with her as she left a path of destruction behind her.

Making her way into the walk-in closet that had once upon a time been hers, she grabbed more suitcases from the top shelf and started throwing all of her clothes into them.

"Don't freaking tell me to calm down, Nate!" Sadie hissed through clenched teeth, pushing back the strands of blonde hair falling into her face; all the while she refused to even look at Nate long enough to glare a hole through his face...even though, at that moment she would've loved it if it were really possible to do just that.

"Sadie, you're overreacting," Nate told her not being able to figure out for the life of him why she was reacting the way she was.

What he had just said was enough to get Sadie to finally look up at him.

"Overreacting? Overreacting?! Overreacting, Nate?!" she asked, her voice getting angrier and angrier each time she would say the word. "I gave up two years of my life for you and this is how you repay me?!" Sadie hissed, pointing straight at her quickly bruising eye. "You lay your hands on me for some stupid, unknown, most likely pathetic reason!" Sadie hissed, pushing him away from her.

"Sadie, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you. You surprised me and that was my first instinctive reaction," Nate tried to reason with her with some stupid excuse that she wasn't buying, reaching out to touch her arm in a soothing manner.

Sadie shrugged his hand off as soon as she felt his touch. "Don't touch me!" she hissed zipping up her suitcases and storming out of the closet. "I don't want to hear anything that you have to say. You crossed a huge line tonight! A line that you can not cross back over. WE. ARE. OVER!" Sadie informed him when she heard him say her name again as he followed her into the living room.

Sadie picked up her other suitcases and threw the apartment door open, making her way out into the hallway. She walked out and set her suitcases down for a moment. Remembering something she'd forgotten to say, she turned around to come face to face with Nate who was currently standing in the doorway.

"I don't know what you're hiding from me, Nate, but I swear I will find out somehow. After all, there is something you don't want me to know isn't there?" Sadie asked, looking him dead in his eyes. "I'm close to figuring something out that you don't want me to know...is that it? Is that why you hit me? Were those texts on your phone that you were looking at something you don't want me to know about? Are you afraid I'm going to find out your dirty little secret and hate you even more than I do right now? Is that it?"

Nate didn't answer and suddenly his eyes were glued to the floor and he was avoiding her gaze and ignoring her words at all costs.

"That's exactly what I thought," Sadie seethed, shaking her head in disgust. "I _will_ find out what you're trying to keep me from finding out. Since obviously it's something really bad if you're willing to hit me and ruin what I thought we had that was supposedly a great thing! I promise you that when I find out you better watch your back because when I do..." Sadie trailed off momentarily to let him stew for a bit. "I'm coming for you," she finished after watching him practically tremble in his boots long enough to satisfy her.

"Where are you going to stay?" Nate asked, pretending that he hadn't just heard everything she had said to him. "It's almost midnight."

Sadie rolled her eyes and shook her head ignoring his question in return, turning and stalking down the hallway with all of her bags in tow. She couldn't believe that she had given up two years of her life for nothing. If she had known two years ago that she'd be single again right now after her boyfriend had hit her, then she would've just stayed single and not said yes when he first asked her out, period. But unfortunately, that's not how it worked out at all.

**~TheMiddle~**

Ariadne groaned as she opened her eyes. Her bedroom was pitch black except for the very faint light coming from the alarm clock on her bedside table. Looking over at the clock she saw that it was only a quarter past midnight and let out a frustrated sigh.

Why in the world was she up at such an ungodly hour? Suddenly she heard the reason why. There was a buzzing sound coming from the living room. It sounded a lot like the buzzing sound that signaled someone buzzing into the building. But who would be here at this ungodly hour? She hadn't been expecting anyone, especially not at this time of night.

Ariadne slowly threw the warm, snug covers off of her and got out of bed. Slipping her feet into her comfy slippers, she made her way out to the living room and over to the intercom system. Pushing the button she spoke up in a sleepy voice, "Who is it?"

Ariadne was suddenly wide awake when the familiar voice answered her, "Oh, thank god! I'm so sorry to wake you up, but I have no where else to go."

"Sadie?" Ariadne asked surprised to hear her voice after such a long time of having no contact at all.

"Yeah, it's me."

Ariadne wasted no time buzzing Sadie in. Unlocking the door to her apartment, she swung it open and ran out heading straight down the stairs to greet Sadie at the door. Sadie was bringing her last few suitcases into the building by time Ariadne was half way down the stairs. As soon as her feet hit the last step she ran and jumped onto Sadie, pulling her into a hug.

"I can't believe it's you, Sadie! You're really here!" Ariadne exclaimed moments later when she let go of her and backed up.

"Well, believe it, Aria, because it's me." Sadie laughed. "I'm really here," she said, avoiding eye contact with her.

"But it's like 12:20 in the morning. Why are you here now?" Ariadne asked curiously, finding Sadie's lack of eye contact with her kind of strange.

Sadie sighed and answered, "Nate and I broke up."

Ariadne's eyes went wide, and she found herself asking, "What? Why? I thought everything was going well with you two?"

Sadie shrugged her shoulders before honestly telling her, "I thought everything was going well, too, but I guess I was wrong," just as she finally looked up showing Ariadne her face.

Ariadne looked at Sadie and a gasp tore from her throat. Reflexively, Ariadne's hand flew up and covered her mouth. She was shocked when she noticed that Sadie's right eye was swollen slightly and it was bruising quickly. "What the hell happened to your eye, Sadie?!" Ariadne asked once she finally found her words again, dropping her hand back down.

Sadie was quick to answer. A little too quick to answer, but Ariadne didn't want to push the subject and make Sadie close up completely so she accepted her answer of...

"I was so mad at Nate during our breakup fight that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I walked straight into the side of a door."

Ariadne gave herself some time to somewhat comprehend the past couple of minutes before she spoke again.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs and get your eye cleaned up," Ariadne said, taking some of Sadie's suitcases from her and leading her upstairs to the apartment.

**~TheMiddle~**

Some time later after Sadie was settled into the second bedroom that luckily Ariadne's apartment contained, Ariadne and Sadie sat on the couch facing one another. Ariadne was no longer tired and Sadie was too hyped up still to even be able to think about sleeping at that point.

Ariadne had cleaned up Sadie's eye while Sadie explained to her what had happened between her and Nate earlier that night that lead to them breaking up. It had taken some coaxing but Ariadne had finally gotten Sadie to admit the truth about her black eye.

"So he was texting someone and when you asked him about them he hit you?" Ariadne asked still trying to understand completely what went on between Sadie and Nate.

"Yeah, it sounds stupid and makes no sense but that's pretty much what happened." Sadie nodded and sighed, leaning her head back against the wall behind the couch. "I am pretty sure he's hiding something extremely big from me," Sadie admitted after deciding to confide in Ariadne about her fears.

Ariadne cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I just have this feeling that there's something I was slowly piecing together that he was afraid for me to find out about. When I left and mentioned to him that I thought he was keeping something from me he looked down at the ground and refused to look at me. Then when he finally spoke again he had changed the subject completely, which only succeeded in making me think I'm right about him hiding something from me even more than I already thought I was," Sadie explained leaving nothing out.

"Sounds like the actions of someone who's hiding something," Ariadne agreed, giving Sadie a sincere look of not necessarily pity, but something less sad. "Do you think maybe he was cheating on you?" Ariadne suggested as she shrugged her shoulders.

Sadie shook her head no and answered, "No, that possibility honestly never even crossed my mind. My intuition says it's something worse than cheating." She thought about it for a moment. "Maybe something worse than I could even imagine."

"Well, a woman's intuition is usually right about these kinds of things."

Sadie nodded in agreement. "I wish I could just somehow get into his mind and find out what's really going on. You know?" Sadie sighed, brushing a hand over her forehead and through her hair.

Ariadne's face suddenly lit up.

Sadie noticed this right away and asked, "Why the sudden, "I've got an idea face?"

Ariadne shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "No reason," she answered a little bit too cheerfully.

Looking at the clock and seeing that it'd be day where _he_ was, Ariadne abruptly stood up.

"I should really get back to bed. I have to be up early this morning," she told Sadie. "I hope you don't mind. We can catch up later this afternoon if you're up for it."

Sadie shook her head and smiled up at her cousin briefly. "No worries, I understand," Sadie assured her. "I'll be here for quite some time, so we'll have a lot of time to talk and catch up."

"Alright, I'll see you later, then." Ariadne turned towards the hallway. "Night, Sade! It's good to have you here!" Ariadne called behind her as she hightailed it to her bedroom.

"Night, Aria. It's great to be here, too!" She replied, reaching across to the table where the tv remote sat. Sadie sat back against the couch and turned on the tv, hoping that watching some tv would relax her enough that she could eventually get some sleep.

**~TheMiddle~**

Ariadne closed her bedroom door behind her just as she heard the tv turn on. She dove across her bed, reaching for her cellphone laying on her bedside table. Picking up the phone, she proceeded to dial the familiar number of the one person who she knew could get the team together to help Sadie out with her "ex-boyfriend keeping a secret from her" situation.

She sat criss-cross applesauce style in the middle of her bed listening to the ringing sound, waiting for him to pick up the phone. It was currently day where he was; as far as she knew he wasn't currently doing a job so there wasn't any reason for him not to answer. The phone rang a few more times before he finally picked up.

 _"Ariadne?"_ he asked, seeming surprised that she was calling him.

"Arthur," she replied with a smile.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"What are you calling for?"

"I just...how long would it take for you to get here?"


	2. The New Client

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; One Minute by Kelly Clarkson
> 
> "One minute you laugh  
> The next minute you're slowly sinking into something black  
> I get the feeling that lately nothing ever really lasts  
> I keep trying to get up but I keep falling back  
> And you love, and you hate, and you wait  
> Cause one minute goes fast,"
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

Ariadne paced back and forth in the living room impatiently as she waited for the buzzing sound that soon to come. She wanted Arthur to be there before Sadie woke up. It'd be easier to fill Arthur in before having to explain everything to Sadie. Besides, she wasn't even sure Arthur would agree to helping. Whenever it came to taking on new jobs, he was very serious and picky about the ones that he agreed to do.

Looking at the clock, Ariadne huffed in slight frustration upon seeing that it was 10:55. Sadie would be up in five minutes. When Sadie first moved to Paris, Ariadne let her stay with her were before she met Nate and moved in with him. During that entire time, Sadie was usually always up by eleven on the dot. Not a minute later and certainly not a minute earlier.

Sadie was so dead set on waking up at the same every day that she actually had a rule about it. It was the, "Don't talk to me until either after I've had my coffee or after eleven because otherwise the consequences won't be pretty," rule. Sadie had come up with the rule during her teenage years due to the fact that her brothers were known to constantly come into her room and wake her up every morning before she was ready to wake up. After a while, the rule just stuck and now everyone who knew her made sure to follow it.

Ariadne smiled as she sighed out of relief when she finally heard the buzz. She didn't even bother saying anything and buzzed the downstairs door open. Then she quickly unlocked and swung open the apartment door, waiting as patiently as she could. Ariadne was still impatient enough that she looked from the clock, to the hallway to see if Sadie would appear, and back towards the stairs.

"It's about time," Ariadne huffed when both Arthur and Eames appeared at the top of the stairs. "I didn't expect both of you," she said in a slightly questioning tone.

"I heard that Arthur was coming to visit you and decided to tag along. How are you, love?" Eames drawled in that charming, flirty, accented voice of his.

"I'm good," Ariadne said, offering him a small smile.

"We were working on a job together." Arthur spoke in a slightly irritated tone. "He insisted he tag along."

Ariadne couldn't help but slightly smirk at the sound of Arthur's voice. Eames always did have a way of getting under his skin. It certainly made for some entertainment whenever they worked together.

"Well, it is nice to see you both," Ariadne smiled, noticing the coffees that Arthur was holding. "Great, you got the coffee!"

Arthur nodded, handing the tray of coffees to her. "Who is the extra one you made me get for?"

"Sadie," Ariadne answered with a smile. "Come in," she said before Arthur or Eames could ask who Sadie was, stepping out of the way to let them in.

"So, what's the emergency? You hung up before I could ask you," Arthur said, walking over and sitting down on the couch.

"Well, it is not actually exactly an emergency, per say," Ariadne said, avoiding eye contact with him. "I just said that because I knew you'd come. I mean, let's be honest, had I told you what I was really calling for you would've said no and just brushed it off without hearing me out."

"Ariadne, I could be working on another job right now, but you said it was an emergency so I came here instead. Please tell me I didn't blow off a job for nothing," Arthur scolded her in his serious business tone voice.

"Stop being such a workaholic, stick in the mud, Arthur. Let Ariadne explain," Eames said, smirking at him as he took a seat next to him in the vacant spot on the couch.

Arthur turned and glared at him. "Shut up, Mr. Eames."

To which Eames' reply was an even bigger smirk.

Arthur rolled his eyes and turned back to Ariadne saying, "Explain why we are here, please, Ariadne."

"My cousin showed up around midnight two nights ago. She had just broken up with her boyfriend of two years and I guess had nowhere else to go. She also had a fresh black eye, which she insists was because she ran into a door. I personally do not believe that reason at all, but I'm not gonna argue with her about it. Lastly, she had a suspicion or two that her boyfriend was hiding something from her. And well, I may have told her that I may have a possible way for her to find out what her ex is really hiding from her," Ariadne explained, saying the last part a little quieter.

"So let me see if I understand this correctly. Long story short is that you want us to invade your cousin's ex's dreams to help her find out why her ex may or may not have been the one to give her the black eye?" Arthur asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, yeah, I guess that'd be the long story short way of putting it," Ariadne answered, nodding her head.

"It sounds like he was cheating on her," Arthur told her, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "I don't think we need to invade his subconscious to prove that based on what you've said," he continued, trying to think of a reason that didn't involve dream sharing.

"No." Ariadne shook her head at him in disagreement. "Sadie insists he wasn't cheating on her and that what he was hiding from her is something even worse than cheating," Ariadne argued because she wanted to not only help Sadie out, but a big part of her wanted to create more in the dream world. After all, reality just wasn't the same anymore now that she knew what other possibilities there were in the world.

"I do not..." Arthur began to argue.

Eames interrupted him as he was clearly on board with helping Ariadne's cousin out. "Oh, come on now, darling. Who knows? This might be fun."

Once again, Arthur turned his head and glared at Eames.

Ariadne looked at the clock and saw that it was exactly 11:00. "Wait, just give me a second," she said to them, directing her words to Arthur more so than Eames. "I'll go wake Sadie and then she can convince you to take on this job."

With that said, she quickly turned and ran down the hall to Sadie's room.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was 11:00 in the morning exactly when Sadie's eyes fluttered open. Her sleep filled, sensitive eyes were instantly met by the sun peaking in through a small opening in the drapes covering the window. With a groan, Sadie rolled over away from the window. She wasn't even the slightest bit eager to get out of bed. Burying her head back into her pillow, she assured herself that she wouldn't go back to sleep; she was only resting for a little while longer.

It had been two days since her breakup with Nate and surprisingly Sadie couldn't have been any happier than she was now. It felt great finally being free of a relationship again. Finally free of having to commit yourself completely. Free of having to be careful about what she said, of what she does. She felt like herself again and wouldn't change what happened days before even if she somehow could.

There was a sudden knock at her door followed by the sound of the door knob turning and the door being opened.

"Sadie, are you up?" She heard Ariadne ask. "It's 11:00."

Sadie moaned into her pillow before slowly picking her head up and turning to look at her. "I know."

"There's coffee from your favorite French café waiting out here for you," Ariadne said with a smile from her place at the door.

That sentence alone was music to Sadie's ears.

She sat up quickly in bed and threw back the covers. "Give me a couple minutes to get dressed."

Ariadne nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Sadie could've sworn that she then heard Ariadne say that she'd be right out. With a small shrug, she brushed it off as she made her way to the dresser to get out her jogging clothes and put them on. Once she was dressed, Sadie looked at herself in the mirror seeing that her eye was still a dark black and blue color. The only bad reminder of that night. Sadie shook her head and sighed as she walked over to the door and slipped on her sneakers before heading out to the living room.

**~TheMiddle~**

As soon as Sadie entered the living room it was confirmed that she had in fact heard Ariadne say that she'd be right out. Sitting on the couch across from Ariadne, who was sitting in the arm chair, were two guys who couldn't be any more different.

One of them was fair built, had slicked back hair and he wore a light gray three piece suit accompanied by a black tie. The suit was perfectly straightened with not even one small wrinkle on it. He was pretty much perfect from head to toe. The other guy was built bigger and was wearing a suit without the jacket and tie, and he didn't really seem to care whether his clothes had wrinkles in them or not. They were definitely polar opposites.

"Some black eye you've got there, love," the bigger of the two said.

Sadie instantly wished she would've put cover-up makeup on her black eye. She shrugged and said with a small laugh, "I walked into the side of an open door. Clumsy me."

By the immediate look on his face, he didn't believe it. He didn't question it, but he didn't believe her story either. After all, it wasn't really any of his business to begin with.

"Coffee?" Sadie asked wanting nothing more at that moment than her promised coffee.

The guy in the perfect suit stood up and held out a cup to her. "Ariadne told me how you liked yours," he said with a slight smile breaching his face, revealing the most adorable dimples.

"Umm...thank you." Sadie smiled back, reaching out and taking the coffee from him.

Their hands momentarily brushed up against each other, causing a slight chill to run up Sadie's spine; the good kind of chill.

"You going to introduce us?" Sadie asked, looking at Ariadne.

"Oh, right," Ariadne spoke as if she had completely forgotten about the pleasantries. "Guys this is my cousin, Sadie. Sadie this is Arthur." She pointed to the guy in the wrinkle free suit that had the cutest dimples. "And this is Eames." She pointed to the other guy that had the accent that Sadie found she already couldn't get enough of. "We've worked together a couple of times," Ariadne wasted no time quickly getting through the pleasantries and getting to why they were there. "Good news and bad news, which do you want first?"

Her abrupt jumping straight to the point attitude took Sadie off guard at first.

"Umm...good," Sadie said as she sat down on the arm of the chair next to Ariadne and took a sip of her coffee.

"Alright, well the good news is we can help you figure out if your suspicions about Nate are real or not."

Sadie raised an eyebrow questioningly. "The bad?"

"It's going to take some convincing Arthur here that it's not going to just end up being a pointless job," Ariadne answered, offering a small frown in Arthur's direction. "A quick heads up, he is a tough one to crack.

"Job?" Sadie questioned, confused.

"We'll explain later...if we're lucky and it comes to that point."

"It definitely won't be a pointless...job," Sadie insisted in a tone that revealed just how confident she was in her statement.

"What makes you so sure of that, love?" Eames asked, his accent continuing to drive Sadie crazy.

"Love?" Sadie was amused at being called that. No one had ever used a pet name on her before, not even Nate, and especially not someone that she hadn't even known for more than a few minutes.

"Get use to it. He calls everyone love...or sometimes even darling," Ariadne said with a small laugh. "Although, darling seems to be more for Arthur than anyone else," she added with another laugh.

"With that accent you can call me anything," Sadie said bluntly all the while looking straight at Eames with a smirk; she had never been afraid to say exactly what she was thinking.

Eames laughed at her statement while Arthur looked like he didn't know what to think, and Ariadne's eyes went wide.

"Sadie!" Ariadne exclaimed, her own face flushing in slight embarrassment at her cousin's lack of self control when it came to what she said.

"Was that too blunt of me to say?" Sadie asked, feigning innocence, as if she didn't know what she said was a little too out there.

Ariadne shook her head in disbelief. She new that shouldn't be so surprised. She'd come to know and love every part of Sadie's extremely out there personality; she was family after all. "Anyways, let's get back to the situation at hand," Ariadne said anxiously, looking at Sadie and urging her to start explaining.

Once she had everyone's attention Sadie spoke up, "Okay so getting straight to the point, my suspicions of Nate keeping something from me all started when I came across some cipher text messages on his phone because really what normal person gets texts in cipher form?" she asked with a huff. "Most people do not even know cipher."

"Which kind of cipher?" Eames asked suddenly more interested in what could possibly soon be classified as the next job than he was a few seconds ago.

Sadie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It could honestly be any of them, but if I had to guess it looked a lot like simple substitution. But I never got the chance to cipher the texts."

"Do you have the texts by chance?" Arthur asked, reminding Sadie that he was also in the room; he'd remained silent for a lot of the time so far.

Sadie nodded her head and pulled out her phone. Opening her pictures, she scrolled through them to get to the pictures she took of the messages.

"I took pictures of them since I didn't have time to send them to my phone and delete the forwards before he caught me," she explained. "Here," she said, handing the phone to him.

A few minutes later, Arthur handed Sadie's phone back. "After we decipher these messages we'll know if there's a reason to make a job out of this or not," Arthur said, standing up from the couch.

"Can someone please fill me in on what the heck a job has anything to do with this?" Sadie asked quickly becoming frustrated that she was out of the loop while the other three in the room knew exactly what they were talking about.

"There's no reason to fill you in yet," Arthur told her; apparently he took his job, whatever it was, very seriously. "We'll get back to you later this afternoon."

"For crying out loud!" Sadie sighed, looking at the clock on her phone. "I don't have time for this anyways. I am already a few minutes behind schedule," she said, standing up and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ariadne asked, following Sadie's movements.

"For my morning jog," she answered simply. "I'll be back in a hour or so. It was nice meeting both of you guys!" Sadie called back to Arthur and Eames.

"Pleasure was all ours," she heard Eames reply and a small smile made it's way onto her face.

For some reason, she was all of a sudden hoping that the cipher texts did turn out to be something big. She wouldn't mind at all being around them more often. Especially, Arthur. He seemed so mysterious, for lack of better word, and something about him being so quiet made her extremely curious. And what better way to get to know more about him than to work along side him? Or whatever the so called "job" entailed.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was about three in the afternoon when Arthur and Eames returned to the apartment, having deciphered the texts. Ariadne buzzed them in before even knowing that it was actually them at the door. She was anxious to find out whether they'd be helping Sadie or not.

"What'd you find out?" Ariadne asked, opening the door and stepping aside to let Arthur and Eames come in.

"Is Sadie here?" Arthur asked, walking into the apartment and heading towards the living room area.

"Sadie's ex is mixing with some shady business," Eames said, following closely behind.

"No, she's not here. She went to get the rest of her things from Nate's place," Ariadne answered, closing the door. "What kind of shady business?" she asked, directing her question towards Eames once she turned around.

"I'd rather not say until Sadie gets here. It's possibly going to be a lot to take in," Eames said, wasting no time making himself at home, sitting down and leaning back with his arms spread out on the top of the couch.

"Mostly it will be hard for her," Arthur mentioned from his place in the chair across from the couch.

"Why will it be hard for her?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"What kind of relationship does Sadie have with her dad?" Arthur asked, earning a sideways glance from Ariadne.

"What does that have anything to do with the texts?" she asked, wanting to know more before answering such personal questions that weren't even really her questions to answer.

"More than you'd think," he answered; he almost sounded sad about what he was going to have to tell Sadie.

Ariadne pondered what he meant for a while before she finally said, "Sadie's the only daughter. She and her dad are closer than most dads and daughters are."

Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened and Sadie walked in. Her hands were filled with almost as many suitcases and bags as she had two days earlier when she first came to stay with Ariadne. When she noticed that Arthur and Eames were there she smiled slightly.

"Let me put these in my room real quick," she said, kicking the door closed with her foot before rushing down the hall to her room.

She returned seconds later and took a seat on the armchair across from the couch. "So what exactly did the texts reveal?" Sadie asked; she was all too eager to find out if her suspicions about Nate had been right or not.

"See for yourself," Arthur answered, holding out his notebook for her to take.

Sadie reached forward to grab it and found the cipher texts as well as the ciphered messages written on the page. She tried as hard as she could to process what she was reading on the paper. There was no preparing anybody for what she was finding out about the past two years of her life. According to the messages, it didn't take a genius to realize that the past two years of her life had all been a lie.

"So based on these...basically my dad stole some important program or whatever and Nate was hired by whoever the program originally belonged to in order to get information about my dad and his whereabouts from me so the program could be retrieved and they could kill my dad once and for all?"

Sadie couldn't believe it. She was trying to make sense of it all, but a huge part of her just didn't want to. This was just too much to take in all at once.

"Are you okay, Sadie?" Ariadne asked worriedly, walking up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't believe that asshole lied to me this whole time," Sadie said as she felt herself being overrun by anger, getting up from the armchair and pacing the living room. "How dare he?!"

"Is it safe to say that she's the new client?" Ariadne asked, glancing over at Arthur and Eames who looked at each other and than back at Ariadne nodding.

"What do you mean by I'm the new client?" Sadie asked, placing Arthur's notebook on the coffee table; she couldn't bare to look at it any longer.

There was a moment of silence before anyone began explaining.

"Our job is to break into people's subconscious' and steal valuable information." Arthur spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

Now that was something she never thought she'd ever hear in a million years.

Sadie raised an eyebrow. "Your job is to what?" she asked and then answered her own question before he could. "You break into people's dreams for a living?" She paused to think it through as much as she could in that moment. "That sounds so...so unreal...so impossible...so weird."

"Don't knock it til' you try it, love." Eames smirked, earning a laugh from Sadie.

Sadie laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "Clever one."

Arthur smiled as he glanced in her direction. "Just ask Ariadne," he told her. "Once you get the hang of it, it is surprisingly hard to stay away."

Sadie looked over at Ariadne with a questioning expression on her face.

Ariadne shrugged her right shoulder and nodded her head. "It's true."

Sadie turned her attention back to Arthur. "What you're saying is your job of breaking into dreams is like a tattoo, or potato chips? You can not just do it once..."

Arthur nodded. "For lack of better similes to describe it, yes."

"How interesting," Sadie mumbled quietly to herself. "So what exactly do you all have to do when breaking into dreams?" Sadie asked; she was much more interested than she thought she'd ever be.

"Well I'm the architect," Ariadne was the first to answer her.

Sadie looked over at her with a look on her face that urged her to explain.

"I create the mazes for each dream level."

"There are actually levels to a dream?" Sadie asked, feeling like she was in Algebra class again having to learn all the steps to showing her work for every problem that required it. "It sounds like a lot of work."

Ariadne shrugged and smiled. "I quite enjoy it."

"You get to do what you love, of course you enjoy it. Me, however...yeah, it just sounds like a lot of work." Sadie turned back to Arthur and Eames. "So what about you two? What do you do?"

"I'm a forger. If need be, I forge into anyone the subject knows." Eames smirked, seeming quite proud of his forging abilities.

Sadie's head was filled with so many thoughts and images that she couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds interesting."

"It definitely can be."

"How about you, Arthur?" Sadie asked; she'd be lying if she would say she wasn't the most interested in finding out what his dream ability was.

"I'm the point man," he answered, looking at her with a serious expression on his face.

Even the words together sounded badass. "So you're the researcher as well as the one who does the killing and other dirty work then?" Sadie guessed with a small smile creeping its way onto her face.

"Just about."

Sadie smirked to herself and couldn't help thinking, " _He could kill me in a dream any day. I surely would not object at all."_

Realizing what she was thinking, Sadie mentally slapped herself upside the head. " _Stop that, Sadie. You barely even know the guy and you're already going crazy over him. It is way too soon._ "

After scolding herself, Sadie asked out loud, "How does this work? I mean, how are we going to go about the situation with Nate?"

"We have to somehow get to him when he's sleeping," Arthur answered. "We'll sedate him so he doesn't wake up before we can get out."

"Well lucky us, I still have a key to his apartment, and he's a very hard sleeper," Sadie said with a mischievous grin on her face. "Just name the time and we're all set."


	3. The Truth of the Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Judas by Kelly Clarkson
> 
> "I will never be like you  
> I'll never do the things you do  
> Selfish and lonely, what's your problem  
> Letting go of you and this  
> Is harder than I thought but I will not be poisoned by your actions."  
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.

It only took a few minutes of arguing with Arthur for him to relent to her argument that she should go under as well. Sadie closed her eyes as she laid on the bed that she once shared with Nate; The next time she opened them she was in his dreams.

She looked around spotting Nate sitting at the bar, nursing a drink in his hand with the bottle next to him for quick refills, always the lazy type, even asking for refills was too much of a task for him. From what was explained to Sadie before she went under, Nate was the dreamer. Therefore it was his subconscious filling the dream with the projections of people and she had to be careful not to bring their attentions to her.

"Go talk to him. See if you can coax him into telling you more about what he has been hiding from you," Sadie heard a voice from next to her say.

Sadie turned her head to see Arthur standing next to her. "Won't he know what's going on if I just go up and talk to him?" she asked curiously.

Arthur shook his head. "He won't be able to tell you're real and not a projection," he answered, motioning his head towards the other side of the room.

Sadie followed his movement and was slightly shocked to see a projection of herself entering the bar. "He's projecting me in his dreams?" she said as more of a statement than a question. "I don't get it."

"There's always a reason for a person projecting someone close to them," Arthur told her. "Either he's got a guilty conscience and his subconscious is forcing him to deal with it, or he just uses his dreams to help him get by in the real world."

"What do you mean by that?" Sadie asked, a confused expression taking over her face.

"Some people use their dreams and projections of others as ways of admitting things that they wouldn't in reality," he answered, turning his head to look at her. "For instance, it's possible that the reason why Nate was able to lie to you for the entire time you were together was because he was admitting everything to his projection of you."

"His projection of me knows everything then?" Sadie questioned, looking at Nate and then to his projection of her.

Arthur nodded his head when her gaze landed back on him.

"So why don't I just go talk to her?" Sadie suggested with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I'd really rather not talk to him."

Shaking his head, Arthur replied, "You can't do that. If you did that then Nate would know immediately that he's dreaming and that we were in his dream once you wake up and your projection goes over to talk to him."

"Couldn't I just kill her after I get the info I want?" Sadie asked, looking over at Arthur with an honestly curious glint in her eyes. "That wouldn't have any bad consequences, would it?"

Arthur met her gaze and smiled briefly, having gotten a kick out of Sadie's question. It was definitely a first for him to be asked a question like that. Even in a dream, projections or not, it wasn't common for people to ask about killing themselves.

Sadie shrugged. "I'm just wondering."

"You could, but it'd be pointless," he informed with an amused expression still on his face. "It would be another way for him to know this is a dream. He'd realize it instantly when you disappear and there's no one to take your place."

Sadie sighed; she was annoyed at the idea of actually having to go talk to Nate. All she really wanted to do was punch him and scream and bitch at him about wasting the past two years and ruining her life. But it was a dream, and unfortunately there were rules to dream sharing. What a shame that was.

"Fine." She huffed, realizing there was no other way around this. "What are we gonna do about my projection? If I'm talking to him and she shows up then our cover would be blown that way," Sadie said; she was no longer liking the fact that she'd talked Arthur into letting her enter the dream anymore. "Speaking of which, what would happen if our covers were blown?"

"Nate's projections would attack and kill us," he answered simply.

"Why?"

"Because when the dreamer realizes they're dreaming their projections start to become like security, so to speak, for the subject's mind."

Sadie nodded in understanding. "One more question. If this ends up all going wrong before our time runs out how are we going to get out of here?" She asked, truly terrified of one of the possible options her mind was supplying her with. "Am I going to have to kill myself? Or will you do that for me?"

"Whichever you prefer if you decide quick enough."

Sadie thought to herself for a moment and then smiled at Arthur. "Definitely you." She felt a chill run through her, not the bad kind, but quickly brushed off the feeling of it. "I'd prefer you to do it for me because even in a dream the idea of killing my ownself is both creepy and nerve racking."

Arthur nodded his understanding. "Alright then, I will keep an eye on you. And if anything goes wrong I'll take care of it."

Deciding that she finally knew enough now, Sadie took a deep breath and said, "Let us get this over with now."

"I'll distract your projection while you talk to Nate."

Raising an eyebrow, Sadie both asked and then answered her own question. "How are you going to do that? Didn't you say...oh, never mind. You're the professional, you know exactly what you are doing."

Without another word, Sadie made her way over to the bar with the hope that Nate's subconscious would be stupid enough to actually mistake her for his projection of her. She glanced back behind her just in time to see Arthur making his way over to the projection of her. Feeling slightly better knowing that her projection was distracted, Sadie sat down next to Nate at the bar.

He looked over at her as he brought the glass he was drinking up to his lips. "You're late," he said simply.

For a moment, Sadie did not know how she should reply to that. But then it dawned on her that he had in fact mistaken her for the projection of her. Therefore, she went along with it.

"Are you sure you were thinking of me hard enough? It's mind over matter after all. You could've wished me here faster."

A smile played on his lips as he set his drinking glass down. "Humorous as always."

Sadie shrugged and smiled, "I have my days."

"Indeed you do."

"Why the sad face tonight?" Sadie asked after deciding to start off simple before trying to get the truth from him.

He shook his head and didn't reply.

"Nate," Sadie spoke, forcing herself to place a hand on his shoulder in a soothing manner.

Nate looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly closed it.

"You know you can tell me anything," Sadie said in as much of an assuring voice as she could muster up.

"I screwed up." Nate finally admitted what he was holding in after another moment of silence.

Sadie didn't say anything. She gave him a look that urged him to go on, a look that assured him that she'd listen. So far it seemed as if she was just like his projections of her. It made Sadie wonder if his projections of her were as similar to her in real life as was possible? She wouldn't put it passed Nate's subconscious to project such a similar person to her.

"The guys I told you about the other night..." He trailed off for a short while before continuing his train of thought. "They know that I didn't get the information they paid me for and now they've decided to take matters into their own hands."

Well that was just great. Not only was Sadie getting less answers than she was expecting to originally, she was now being left with more questions and no answers. To make matters worse, she had no idea who these guys he was talking about were, and it sounded like based on what he was saying that someone's life was in danger. It didn't take a genius to realize that it was probably hers, too.

"What do you mean by matters into their own hands?" Sadie asked before she could stop herself from doing so.

Without hesitation, Nate answered, "I think they're planning on kidnapping you, forcing the information they want out of you, and then killing you once they get what they want."

Sadie's breath caught in her throat and she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Was it possible to have a panic attack in a dream? If it was, then she was about to have one. And if it wasn't, then she was gonna have one anyways.

"I'm so sorry for getting you caught up in this," Nate said; he was suddenly talking to her as if she was real and not just a projection.

So Arthur was right then when he said, "it's possible that the reason why Nate was able to lie to you for the entire time you were together was because he was admitting everything to his projection of you."

"I never meant for it to go this far. I expected to get in, get the information, and get out. But you were harder to crack than I expected, and now it has unfortunately come to this." He sighed, running a hand harshly through his hair. "It wasn't suppose to get out of hand like this."

As if she had flipped a switch within herself, Sadie felt her anger boiling in her blood. He had betrayed her trust in ways even more than she could have ever thought. Based on what he just said, it was easy to realize that their whole two years of a relationship was only him trying to complete the job. He did not really love her in even the slightest from the sounds of it. He was just using her. He betrayed her worse than if it turned out he just didn't love her anymore. In actuality, he had never loved her at all.

Before she could even think about her actions or remember that she was in someone else's dream or remember what Arthur said about projections and their overprotectiveness of their subject's mind, Sadie's hand was on the back of Nate's head and she was slamming his head into the hard surface of the bar, knocking him out instantly.

In an instant, Arthur was at her side, grabbing her and pulling her away from the bar. Looking around, she saw that all of the projections were staring at her. They all looked liked predators getting ready to attack their prey. It was now that Sadie finally realized what she had just done. She had alerted Nate's projections to what was going on. Even worse, she'd alerted him to the fact that she'd been in his dreams.

Arthur pulled her into a currently abandoned hallway. "We have to get out of here," he said, wasting no time pulling a gun out of the back of his pants. "Now."

Sadie's eyes widened at the sight of the gun in his hands. She definitely hadn't expected it to go down like this.

"What are you...?" She started to ask before Arthur interrupted her.

"We don't have time," he said, placing the barrel of the gun against the side of her head, causing a terrified gasp to tear from Sadie's throat. "You may want to close your eyes for this."

Sadie looked at Arthur with evident panic in her eyes. Even the thought of dying in a dream now scared her half to death. She knew she'd wake up right away, but it still wasn't something that was very appealing. No matter how much she joked about her being okay with it as long as someone else was doing the killing, actually going through it was not a joking matter.

"It'll be okay," Arthur assured her, speaking in an assuring tone of voice as he reached forward and took her hand and rubbed soothing patterns on it. "Just take a deep breath and close your eyes," he instructed her, holding her hand tighter. "I will make it as quick and painless as I can."

Sadie nodded her head, putting her full trust in him in that moment. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. The next thing she knew she felt a heavy blow to her head and then everything went quiet.

**~TheMiddle~**

As soon as she awoke, Sadie was gasping for air and shooting straight up in the bed. The feeling of nausea immediately made itself known. Sadie frantically grabbed at the IV and yanked it hard, wincing slightly as it dislodged itself from her arm. She threw it on the bed at her feet and put a hand over her mouth as she jumped out of the bed, making a beeline for the bathroom; she didn't even make an effort to close the door behind her.

She made it just in time as everything from the dream came together; what Nate had told her, her losing control and blowing their cover, and Arthur shooting her in the head. It was all too much for her to handle and she lost it. Over and over again she got sick. Weirdly enough, each time something came up she felt a little bit better. Once she was done, Sadie put the lid down and flushed the toilet before sitting back against the cold wall behind her, bringing her legs up against her chest and laying her head on her knees.

What the hell had she gotten herself into? A part of her wished she had never asked for help in the first place. Maybe she was better off not knowing that her days on the Earth may be numbered now. Maybe two years ago she should've trusted her gut instinct and turned Nate down even after doing it two times before. After all, third time is a charm. Or maybe when she was 10 and she met her dad for the first time she should've listened to her mom's warning of not letting her dad be involved in her life. So many choices that she could've made different decisions for. Things would probably be a lot different now had she made different decisions back then when she had the chances to.

After giving herself a reasonable amount of time to calm down and cleaning up the bathroom to make sure Nate wouldn't suspect that anyone had ever been there upon waking up, despite her already having most likely revealed to him that she'd been in his dreams if he was smart enough to not just blame his drunken ways of dreaming it all up, Sadie retreated from the bathroom back to the bedroom.

"Are you okay?" Ariadne asked worriedly, standing up abruptly and walking over to Sadie once she saw her walk out of the bathroom.

"I've honestly been better," Sadie answered as she fixed her ponytail.

"What happened, love?" She heard Eames ask curiously from somewhere to the left of her.

Sadie looked over to where he was standing. She hadn't even remembered he was there until now. Her mind was not in the best shape at the moment. She shook her head and told him, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Sadie..." Ariadne started to say, but was immediately cut off by Sadie lifting a hand to stop her.

"Right now, I just need a few drinks to help me through this," Sadie said just as Nate started to move on the bed. "We need to go now. I think he is starting to wake up."


	4. Blame Everything On the Alcohol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Middle of Nowhere by Selena Gomez
> 
> "You took my heart off my sleeve  
> But now I'm taking it back, back  
> Baby, here I come  
> You took advantage of me  
> I don't appreciate that, that  
> You son of a gun."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

"Would you like some company, love?" Eames asked as Sadie walked down the hallway away from them as soon as they'd left Nate's apartment.

"Thank you for the offer, but no." Sadie shook her head as she ran a hand through her sweaty and knotted blonde hair. "I just need to be alone right now," Sadie called back, turning the corner that lead to the elevator.

Once Sadie was out of sight and hearing range, Ariadne turned to Arthur. "What happened in there?"

"I honestly don't know," Arthur told her honestly, shrugging his shoulders in confusion. "I can only guess that she learned something that made her angry because before I knew it she was smashing his head against the bar. Our cover was immediately blown so there was no time to ask questions."

Ariadne sighed, a part of her suddenly wishing that she had tried to force Sadie to tell her what happened. But at the same time she knew that if she had pushed for information, it would only have made Sadie close up completely. That was what Sadie did. She would run away from her problems and shut up when she was scared.

Sadie wasn't the type who liked showing her vulnerabilities. She'd rather people see her as a strong, independent woman who could handle any and everything that life threw at her. However, just like everyone else, Said had her moments where her weaknesses would show themselves even when she didn't want them to.

Ariadne frowned, starting to make her way down the hall to the elevators. "She'll be back."

"What do you mean she'll be back?" Arthur asked, jogging to catch up with her.

"When Sadie drinks too much, she tends to get confrontational. She'll end up getting drunk and coming back here to give Nate a piece of her mind," Ariadne explained to the guys standing on either side of her. Moments later as they approached the elevator she suggested, "Maybe one of you should go after her and make sure she goes home instead of coming back here. I would, but I have classes tomorrow."

As she made her way into the elevator, she missed the looks that Arthur and Eames shared with each other.

**~TheMiddle~**

"Another shot please," Sadie said to the bartender as she leaned against the bar.

She knew it wasn't the smartest idea, but she was drowning the events of the day in alcohol. Part of her was hoping that maybe tomorrow she'd be so hung over that the events of tonight would be completely hidden by everything else in her mind. But, knowing her luck, she'd be hung over as well as aware of every single thing that had happened.

Just as she downed her second shot, Sadie sensed two different presences, both of whom sat down on either side of her. She looked up as she slammed the shut glass down on the bar in front of her. A huff escaped her as she shook her head.

"I thought I told you guys that I needed to be alone?" She spoke without even looking at the two of them who were blocking her in with no way to go but backwards if she felt inclined to turn and run away.

"Now, love, you should know something about me," Eames said, piquing Sadie's curiosity as she turned to lift an eyebrow at him. He grinned, motioning to the bartender who placed a drink in front of him moments later. "I never pass up an opportunity to have a drink."

If Sadie had to guess, she would guess that this wasn't the first time Eames had been to this specific bar.

"Of course, you don't," she said, turning back to face the bar again, holding her glass up and shaking it in the bartenders direction as he way of signaling her want for a third one.

"How many of those have you had?"

Sadie looked to the other side of her to confront the person who the voice belonged to. "Fancy seeing you here, Arthur." She smiled briefly. "I've had two," she informed him in a matter of fact tone. "The next one will be my third." She was already feeling the affects of the first two shots.

Sadie eyed the drink in Arthur's hand and looked up at him, "I would've never taken you for the drinking at bars type," she admitted to him bluntly. "You seem so serious all the time, almost as if you're like the stick in the mud type."

Eames laughed from his place on the other side of her. "See, Arthur," Eames said with a grin. "I'm not the only one who thinks that."

Arthur turned his head and glared at him. "Shut up, Mr. Eames."

Sadie's face lit up almost instantly and she looked back to Eames. "So Eames is not your real name?"

Eames shook his head.

Sadie smiled as innocent of a smile as she could and asked, "Then what is?"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder about."

Sadie frowned. "Well that is very sucky of you." She scoffed in annoyance, the alcohol clearly taking affect on her now. Well that and the fact that, to be quite honest, she wasn't use to not getting what she wanted often.

Turning back to the bar she saw that she didn't have another shot in front of her yet. Not doing anything to hide her annoyance, she called out, "Bartender! Where's my other shot?!"

Moments later, the bartender placed the filled shot glass in front of her.

"Thank you," she said, grabbing the shot and downing it without a second thought.

She smiled as the alcohol burned her throat on it's way down. The best kind of alcohol. Sadie always drank under the impression that the best alcohol was the kind that burned it's way down her throat. On ice was not as good as straight up. And wine just did not cut it. But shots...shots definitely hit all the right spots. The first time she had ever had a shot was when she moved to Paris at 18. Thanks to the age limit in the US, she didn't get to drink any alcohol there. Well not legally anyways.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sadie noticed a woman looking in her direction. She wasn't exactly feeling comfortable with her looking her way. It didn't take long for Sadie to realize who exactly the woman was looking at.

Sadie looked over at Eames and said, "Will you please do something about her?"

Eames raised and eyebrow as he asked, "Do something about who?"

"About that woman over there who won't stop looking at you." She nodded her head in the woman's direction. "Her looking over here is making me really uncomfortable right now."

Eames laughed and stood up. "Don't worry love, I'll take care of her."

Shooting her a wink, that weirdly made her stomach begin to do somersaults, Eames grabbed his drink from the bar top and made his way over to the woman.

Sadie smiled as she called after him. "Thank you so much."

A sudden feeling of jealousy washed over her. Instead of thinking anything of it, Sadie just brushed it off as the alcohol making her feel things she wouldn't usually feel. Alcohol was meant to make people feel like that.

Turning towards Arthur now that it was just the two of them sitting at the bar, Sadie asked, "So is dying in dreams always so nerve racking?" She didn't give him a chance to answer as she went on; alcohol definitely turned her into a chatter box, "Because at first the aspect of being killed by someone as mysterious and attractive as you in a dream..." Sadie paused for a moment to smile at Arthur before she continued, "It was kind of...exhilarating for lack of better words. Yeah, it was exhilarating, but then when the time came for you to kill me after I blew our cover I suddenly felt the urge to jump out of my own skin, head for the hills and never return." Again before Arthur could get a word in, Sadie added, "And please don't give a long explanation answer. 'Cause it'd just end up being a waste of breath since I probably won't remember much of what happens now and for the remainder of the night tomorrow."

"It depends on the person," he answered truthfully, playing with the rim of his drink glass. "Some get use to it after a while, but others never do."

"How about you?" Sadie asked curiously. "Did you ever get use to it?"

Arthur remained silent at first, making Sadie wonder if maybe she'd ask a wrong question. But before she could contemplate apologizing for maybe overstepping her boundaries, he answered her, "Honestly, there are still times that I get nervous when it comes down to having to kill myself to escape a dream."

Sadie smiled a small smile. "At least you're honest." Sadie remained quiet after that until the alcohol coursing through her veins decided that it was time for her to get angry. "You know who is not even the slightest bit honest?!" She asked rhetorically. "My dumbass ex of a freaking boyfriend! I wasted two years of my life on him for absolutely nothing at all," she hissed through clenched teeth. "Well, I mean, other than the fact that my days on Earth are now numbered because of that dumbass and his non-existing honesty." She shook her head in complete disbelief at how screwed up her life was all of a sudden. "It makes me so mad thinking about it!"

"Your days are numbered?" Arthur asked, his tone a mixture of surprise and confusion, having not expected her to say anything like that.

"Yeap, Nate said, and I quote, "I think they're planning on kidnapping you, forcing the information they want out of you, and then killing you once they get what they want," and that is what led me to smashing his head into the bar," Sadie answered, her anger growing at just the thought of remembering it. "As if he didn't already do enough damage." She frowned. "Can I let you in on a secret?"

"It depends on what kind of secret."

Sadie ignored him and told him her secret anyways, which in actuality wasn't much of a secret since everyone was already very well aware of it. "I didn't really get my black eye from walking into a door," she confessed, her anger dissipating slowly as sadness took it's place. "I walked in on Nate while he was texting more of those cipher messages the other night and I asked him about them. He told me that they were nothing important and that I needed to forget what I saw. But, of course, me being me did not do that, so he got mad and he hit me." She frowned. "I proceeded to break up with him as soon as I had recovered from the shock of the blow. Ever since I was younger, I always said that I don't care what the reason was...if a guy I was dating ever lays a hand on me, it's over." Sadie shook her head. "I have no intention of ever being a guest on The Steve Wilkos Show, so no...just no. It was over the moment he balled up his fist."

**~TheMiddle~**

Another couple of shots later, Sadie was finally ready to go home. All she wanted was her warm, cozy bed and most of all sleep. But there was no way she'd get there on her own. She was far too gone to do most things on her own. It was a surprise to her that she could even form words. So maybe she wasn't as drunk as she felt like she was. But she still wasn't willing to chance it. And plus, if she wasn't so drunk, then why would she still be going on and on about Nate. Maybe drinking all of those shots wasn't such a good idea after all. It was a little too late for thinking of what could've been.

"I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. I feel like such a freaking dumbass. I mean I was raised by a spy for crying out loud!" She yelled, too drunk to realize that it might not be wise to reveal such dangerous things to whoever could possibly be lurking in the shadows. "I should know when someone is using me or not. I really am such a dumbass at times. The past two years have been filled with at least 600 plus times of moments where I was being a dumbass. I. Am. Such. A. Dumbass." Sadie couldn't stop rambling on as Arthur led her out of the bar.

Arthur suddenly stopped abruptly in his tracks. Sadie followed suit since he was the only thing holding her up and keeping her butt from hitting the concrete sidewalk below. Sadie wondered why they had stopped after only making it a few steps out of the bar They were many blocks from the apartment, and they were the only ones on the deserted sidewalk.

Sadie relaxed as Arthur's hands came up to cup her face, moving her to look him in the eyes, "You're not a dumbass. Don't ever call yourself that again, drunk or not."

"How would you know?" Sadie asked with a roll of her eyes. "You've only known me for like less than 12 hours now," Sadie guessed since she had no idea what time it was.

"I just know," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It's a part of life for everyone to mess up every now and then. There is nothing you can do to change that fact. It's not a fact that any one really likes, but none-the-less it is still a fact that happens more often then not."

Sadie nodded her head in understanding at his short speech.

Moments later, Sadie was paying more attention to where Arthur's hands were placed and felt a familiar warm and tingling sensation where it shouldn't be at a moment like the one she was currently in.

Sadie swallowed the lump in her throat down hard before she said to him in an informative tone, "I am just letting you know now that I tend to get really horny so much lot faster when I've had a few shots. Therefore, it'd be wise for you to stop touching my face before I do something that's really going to be embarrassing once I'm sober."

Arthur didn't hesitate to drop his hands from her face and smiled slightly, faintly showing off his dimples, as he replied, "Thank you for the warning."

Sadie smiled back just as she stumbled and almost lost her balance, "You're welcome."

Arthur quickly grabbed hold of her arm and wrapped his other arm around her waist to steady her. When he finally had her secure in his arms, he began walking down the sidewalk, leading the way for them both since Sadie was in no position to navigate a turtle let alone herself.

"Hey, Arthur," Sadie said, stifling a yawn as she laid her head on his shoulder as they walked down the deserted sidewalk.

"Yeah?" he mumbled, the vibrations coming from him finding their way to Sadie, causing a shiver to rush up her spine.

"Sorry that you had to put up with my drunken rambling for the past few hours." She apologized sincerely as she began to feel a bit embarrassed about everything she had admitted to him tonight. "You must think I'm nuts right now."

"No need to apologize." He chuckled slightly, sending more vibrations throughout Sadie's body. "And I don't think you're nuts either, he assured her with a small smile playing out on his lips. "It was quite an interesting night to say the least."

Sadie had an instinctive feeling that said that wasn't exactly something Arthur often admitted. After all, she did remember hearing Eames calling him a stick in the mud earlier that night. But only after she had said it first. Whatever, though; this wasn't kindergarten.


	5. Answers and Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson
> 
> "There's a place that I know  
> It's not pretty there and few have ever gone  
> If I show it to you now  
> Will it make you run away?
> 
> Or will you stay  
> Even if it hurts  
> Even if I try to push you out  
> Will you return?  
> And remind me who I really am  
> Please remind me who I really am."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Xavier, Sadie's dad.

Sadie's head was just about literally killing her when she woke up the next day. Her vision was blurry, and she was definitely regretting all of the shots she had taken the night before. She made a mental note to never drink without moderation again. But despite her mental note, she already knew that the next time she had the chance she'd forget what she had told herself and do it again anyways. She had always been the "drown your sorrows in alcohol despite knowing exactly how you will feel the morning after" type. And to this day she had yet to learn her lesson.

Throwing her covers off, Sadie sat up in bed much too fast. Her head pounded and she fell back down, her hands instantly going up to her face. She groaned as she sat up again slower this time. Sadie took her time getting out of her bed and slipped into her slippers before making her way out of the bedroom. She found herself having to use the wall to support herself or else she would've fallen backwards onto her butt.

"It is about time you woke up," Ariadne said, looking up from the book she was reading as she heard Sadie walk into the kitchen.

"What time is it?" Sadie groaned, having not even thought to check her alarm clock when she first woke up.

"About three in the afternoon," Ariadne answered, reaching for the cup she had sitting next to her on the end table. "How are you feeling?" she asked wondering if Sadie felt as bad as she looked.

"I feel like my head has been pounded into a brick wall over and over again," Sadie answered honestly, grabbing a bottle of flavored water from the fridge.

"There's Advil in the cabinet next to the fridge," Ariadne said, taking a sip of her drink before putting it back on its coaster the table.

"Thanks," Sadie muttered, opening the cabinet and grabbing the bottle of Advil; She opened it and took three before putting the bottle back.

"So do you want to talk about last night?" Ariadne asked after a short time of silence.

Sadie didn't answer at first as she took the Advil with a few sips of water. "What's there to talk about?" she asked, shrugging as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

Ariadne put a book mark in her book and closed it, laying it on the table in front of her. She then stood up and walked over to where Sadie was, leaning against the opposite counter as her.

"Arthur mentioned that you smashed Nate's head into the bar when you were dreaming," Ariadne said quizzically as she raised an eyebrow.

Sadie sighed and replied, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

What Nate had told her at the time had pissed her off, but now that she'd had time to calm down and sleep on it...the thought really scared her. What if what he thought was actually true? What if her days on Earth really were numbered. She'd cheated death once before, but what if this time she knew it was coming and there was just nothing she could do to change it? What if it really was her time to go and it was quickly approaching? The possibilities made her shutter.

Ariadne nodded in understanding as she became aware of the sudden look of fear that had taken over Sadie's facial expressions. "You don't have to tell me now," she said with a brief, warm smile. "I'll be here when you need to talk about it with someone; that's if you feel the need to."

"Thank you, Aria." Sadie smiled.

Ariadne smiled back. "Anytime."

"I am going to go get dressed," Sadie said, pushing herself off of the counter.

Feeling herself stumbling backwards, Sadie reached back quickly and grabbed the counter to help steady herself. After waiting a few seconds to make sure she was okay, she made her way down the hall to her bedroom. Once she was in her room she sat cross legged on her bed with her cell phone in her hands. She contemplated calling her dad and demanding answers. After quickly weighing the pros and cons of doing so in her head, her anger and curious side made the decision for her. She dialed the all too familiar number and waited for him to answer.

"Sadie," her dad's voice came from the other end of the line.

"You owe me an explanation or two, dad," Sadie said calmly, wasting no time jumping straight to the point.

There was a pause.

"What do you mean?" her dad asked curiously. "About what?"

"You stole a program dad!" she exclaimed. "My life is at risk now because of it. Why didn't you tell me?!" Sadie asked, struggling to keep her voice as calm as possible.

"How do you know about the program?" he asked after not saying anything for a couple of seconds.

"Ariadne introduced me to a couple of guys who deciphered some text messages for me."

"What text messages?"

"Nate turned out to have been hired by the guys you stole the program from."

"Oh."

"Oh? Oh? Is that all you have to say dad?!"

"Sadie..." her dad started in a tone that she recognized instantly.

Sadie cut him off instantly. She knew that tone voice of his. She'd heard it too many times since he first stepped foot into her life when she was 10. "Don't start with the excuses dad! You owe me the truth!"

"Sadie, I can't...it's hard to explain," he told her. "The less you know about it all, the better off you are."

"What the hell dad?!" Sadie asked in disbelief. "I deserve to know! My life is ruined now because of you stealing whatever that program is that you stole. The last two years of my life have been a lie because of _you_ and _your_ actions! I deserve nothing but the truth right now!"

"I can't tell you anything without putting your life in even more danger than it already is now," he said, his voice conveying just how much having to tell her this was weighing on him; at least he seemed honestly conflicted about all of this.

"For crying out loud dad!" Sadie exclaimed, running a hand harshly through her hair. "Nate didn't get the information from me that those guys wanted, so now they've said that they're taking matters into their own hands," she explained to him, hoping to get him to open up to her. "Nate thinks they plan on kidnapping me, forcing the information they want out of me, and then killing me afterwards!"

"Which is precisely why you don't need to know anything," he told her. "You just have to make them think you're pretending not to know anything even though you really don't. It'll be easier to do that if you honestly don't know much."

"Wait. What? What the hell are you talking about dad?"

"Sadie, the less you know the bigger the chance of you surviving is." He sighed. "If they think you know something that they want to know they'll keep you alive longer."

A sudden shiver of panic coursed through Sadie all of a sudden when her brain finally processed what her father was telling her.

"Why are you talking as if they're going to kidnap me?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while.

After a couple of terrifying minutes on Sadie's part, her dad answered, "Because if they really want to kidnap you and get answers, they're gonna do so. And there is no way to stop them; especially not these guys."

Sadie's heart almost stopped right then and there. She had never felt so scared in her entire life. Her dad had put her life in certain danger because of what he did, even if that was not his intention in even the slightest. Although, Sadie wondered if he had even thought about how his actions would affect her when he first chose to steal the program. He probably hadn't, knowing him. What was so important about that program that her dad had put her in such a position? Did that program mean more to him than she did? It sure felt that way at the moment.

"I can't believe you. You've put my life in certain danger, dad," Sadie said, trying not to let her voice break too much. "Did you even think about how my life would be affected by you stealing the program?" she asked and then didn't give him the chance to answer. "You didn't, did you?" she answered for him in the form of another question. "Because if you had, then you wouldn't have stolen it in the first place."

"Sadie, there is much more to it than that." Her dad tried to explain, but she wasn't having any of it.

"Don't, dad. I can't...I just can't talk to you anymore right now," Sadie said angrily, hanging up before he had the chance to say anything else.

Sadie threw her phone onto the bed next to her. And then she lost it. She couldn't keep the tears from pouring out of her eyes and down her face like it was the new Niagara Falls. If she were to say she wasn't afraid for her life, she'd have been lying. She couldn't believe the path her life was taking, and to make things worse, she didn't even have any control over any of it.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was an hour or two from being dark and Sadie was finishing up a few errands. She was watching her back, looking over her shoulders, and paying more attention to her surroundings than usual. Even though she was scared to death of what she'd learned in the past 24 hours she couldn't allow it to stop her from doing the necessary things she had to do. She couldn't let it eat her away on the inside. She had to do whatever she could to power through it.

Sadie refused to live what could possibly be the last few days or weeks or months of her life in a state of depression. Like the saying said, "live every day like it's your last," and that's exactly what Sadie was planning on doing. No matter how afraid she was of the things she knew and also the still unknown, she had to do what she could to make sure that if things did end badly that she had no regrets and didn't go out feeling like a failure.

As she was walking down the sidewalk, paying close attention to everything around her, she stopped abruptly mid-step. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she got a nervous feeling in her gut. She looked every which way, turning in a complete circle; she could swear up and down that she had been seeing shadows of people ducking into alley ways as she looked around.

A shiver went up and down her spine, and she suddenly had the urge to run to a place where there were many people so that she could call someone to come get her. And that is exactly what she did. Sadie tried to be nonchalant about it just in case someone was there; she didn't want them thinking they were scaring her, even though they were.

Once Sadie was in a well lit and crowded café, she sat down at an empty table in a back corner and pulled out her phone. Sadie went into her contacts and a smile lit up her face at the second name she saw on the list. He must've added his number when he was texting the cipher texts to his own phone. She felt a sudden feeling of warmth fill her entire body from head to toe, for whatever reason, as she looked around the café before pushing the call button and putting her phone up to her ear.

As soon as he answered the phone on the second ring, Sadie spoke, "I think I'm being followed, and I am honestly freaking out right now."

"Where are you?" he asked.

Sadie looked around for a sign somewhere having paid no attention when she first came in. "Umm...Le Café Charbon."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

Sadie smiled into the phone feeling a lot better knowing that he was on his way. "Thank you, Arthur."

**~TheMiddle~**

It wasn't more than 10 minutes before Arthur arrived at the café. He came in and sat down across from Sadie. She felt completely relieved when she felt his presence in front of her. Even with him there, though, she was cautious of her surroundings. Every time she thought she saw a shadow of a person she would look in the direction to make sure it was a real person's shadow and not a shadow of someone ducking and hiding.

"I am almost scared to death right now," Sadie admitted, leaning forward and putting her head in her hands.

Arthur had a concerned look on his face as he asked, "What happened?"

Sadie sighed and looked up at him. "I called my dad and demanded answers," she answered him honestly. "He didn't tell me anything really except for the fact that the guys he stole the program from are guys who always get what they want one way or another. Therefore, it's very possible that they will end up kidnapping me and carrying out whatever they have planned if that's what they want to do."

"I won't...I mean, _we_ won't let that happen to you, Sadie," Arthur assured her, surprising them both by reaching forward and placing a comforting hand over hers on the table.

Sadie looked down upon contact and bit her lower lip out of slight nervousness. She couldn't figure out why she felt the way she was feeling at just the slightest touch, and this time she was completely sober. She didn't even know him that much, and yet he was having this weird effect on her. Sadie had never known herself to be the type to ever feel the way she was feeling now over any guy. So maybe it was just lust based on the fact that, even though she'd been with Nate for the past two years, Nate hadn't treated her half as good as Arthur had treated her in only a day and some hours of knowing her. Yeah, that is probably exactly what it was.

"Could you walk me home?" Sadie asked him with a hint of hope in her voice. "I don't feel safe walking on my own right now, even if it is light out still."

Arthur nodded as he stood up and held out his hand to her. "Of course."

"Thank you." Sadie smiled, taking his hand and standing up. "I'm glad I met you," Sadie admitted as she followed Arthur out of the cafe.

He smiled back at her and with a subtle nod of his head replied, "Likewise."

"Can we take the park way back to the apartment?" Sadie asked with a small, nervous smile on her face.

Arthur glanced at her with a quizzical expression on his face. "That is longer than the other way."

Sadie shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Yeah, I know, but I just really want to take a walk in the park."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it as he seemingly decided against what he was originally going to say. Instead, he just simply said, "Alright then, through the park it is."

Sadie grinned. "Great!"

**~TheMiddle~**

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Sadie decided to break it by asking the first thing that came to mind.

"So are you really as much of a stick in the mud as Eames claims you are?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Arthur asked due to being caught off guard by her question.

"I mean, obviously Eames must be on to something if he constantly calls you a stick in the mud. Right?" Sadie asked, turning around to face him while she walked backwards. "Also, so far from the moment I first met you, you have always had this absolute serious, professional vibe to you," she added when he didn't jump to say anything. "Well, I mean, except for a few moments last night. You did sort of break away from your professional self then."

"I usually don't have time in between jobs, so I don't make it a habit to break away from my professional side," he finally spoke, offering her a small smile.

"Surely there's more to you than just your professional side's personality," Sadie replied inquisitively, reaching up to push a strand of her hair out of her face.

"Not really."

"So you've never taken a break to have some fun every once in a while?" Sadie stared at him with a disbelieving expression on her face. "Not even between jobs?"

Arthur shook his head. "Nope."

"Okay," Sadie said in a tone that spoke volumes as she stopped abruptly in her tracks, causing Arthur to damn near bump into her.

"What?" he asked curiously, taking a step back.

"Once things settle down around here a bit...you know with the whole my life is at risk situation...once it is settled down a bit, I am personally going to drag you away from your always professional attitude and you're gonna live a little," Sadie said in a matter-of-fact tone as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You make it seem like I'll be sticking around here for a while," Arthur mused, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"Well obviously with my life at risk, you're not just gonna pack up and leave..." she trailed off momentarily. "Right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him, trying to ignore the slight sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she felt at the thought.

"Of course not," he answered without hesitation.

"Well then, when the problem is taken care of and all is good, I'm going to take you out with me and..." Sadie abruptly stopped her thought mid sentence. "Wait, I don't mean take you out on a...that's not, yeah, I mean just like taking you out with me as friends." Sadie couldn't figure out how to bounce back from that, so she quickly turned around and started walking. "We should just go," she called back to him; she didn't bother to wait for him to catch up as she walked faster and faster with each step she took.

Talk about an awkward situation.

**~TheMiddle~**

"Umm, well...thank you for walking me back here." Sadie smiled at Arthur as she opened the front door to the apartment building she and Ariadne lived in.

"No problem," Arthur replied with a smile similar to Sadie's.

"Did you want to come up or something?" Sadie asked suggestively. "I mean, if you want. No pressure," she assured him. "If you don't have anything else to do. You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just suggesting it to be polite," Sadie started rambling on as she opened the door and stepped into the building.

"I'm in no hurry," Arthur answered, following her into the building and up the stairs to the apartment.

"Hey, Aria! I'm back," Sadie said as she walked into the apartment.

"Did you get everything done that you wanted?" Ariadne asked, putting her phone down on the coffee table and writing something on a scrap piece of paper before folding it up, and placing it into her pocket before standing up. "Hey, Arthur," she smiled politely when she noticed him standing there.

"For the most part," Sadie answered, closing and locking the door.

"What do you mean for the most part?" Ariadne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I had this weird feeling that I was being watched and followed, so I ended up hiding out in a café and calling Arthur to come walk me home," Sadie explained, laughing at how it sounded when put all together; She felt almost like she was a little kid again needing her mommy to hold her hand to cross the street safely.

"Did you actually see anyone?" Ariadne asked not being able to stop the question from passing through her lips.

Sadie shook her head. "I had a moment of complete cowardness, and ran inside the café instead of investigating like I usually would have," she admitted with a sight. "Anyways, I'm gonna go change into something more comfortable," she informed them on her way to her room. "I'll be right back."

Once Sadie was in her room with the door closed, Ariadne turned her full attention to Arthur. She pulled the paper she had written on moments ago out of her pocket and handed it to Arthur.

Arthur took it from her, and upon opening it he found a phone number written on it. He glanced up and raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

"Call it when you get back to wherever you're staying," Ariadne simply instructed.

"Who's number is it?"

"It's Xavier's."

"Whose?"

"Xavier, Sadie's dad," Ariadne informed him after remembering that he didn't know who he was. "Apparently, Sadie called her dad earlier this afternoon and mentioned that a couple of guys had helped her get some information. He called me a few minutes ago and asked me to give his number to said guys." Ariadne stopped and looked away from him.

Ariadne's actions certainly piqued Arthur's interest.

"What's wrong?"

Looking anywhere but at Arthur, Ariadne took a deep breath before she confessed, "I may have accidentally name dropped you and Eames."

"That's not necessarily something to worry about," Arthur pointed out. "We're not the only ones with these names."

"In this case it kind of is," Ariadne replied, playing with her hands nervously. "It wasn't until after I name dropped you two that he told me to give you his number," she admitted. "He seemed to have known a little bit about you two because after telling me to give you his number he said something about having a job offer for you and Eames," Ariadne explained loud enough for Arthur to hear, but quiet enough that Sadie wouldn't even if she walked back into the living room.

"What kind of job offer?"

"He didn't say." Ariadne shrugged as she answered. "But I am pretty certain that it has something to do with Sadie," she said, walking into the kitchen and over to the fridge to get a bottle of water. "He has quite a bit of money, so the pay will definitely be good," she told him. "It's up to you whether you call or not."

"Does Sadie know about it?" Arthur asked.

Ariadne shook her head. "Not unless Xavier told her something when they talked earlier, but it didn't seem like she knew anything. If she did, then she'd be pissed off and going crazy right now."

The sound of a door opening filled the apartment and abruptly finished the conversation between Ariadne and Arthur. Sadie made her way out of her room in shorts and a t-shirt that had her showing off more skin than she should have been with Arthur currently in the apartment.

"What are you talking about?" Sadie asked curiously, walking over to the armchair and plopping down in it.

Ariadne and Arthur both shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders in unison almost like they had practiced the moves a few times before she came back out. "Nothing," they both lied simply.

Sadie looked at them with an unreadable expression on her face. Ariadne was afraid she'd say something about not believing them, but thankfully she didn't. And for that, Ariadne felt truly relieved.


	6. Easy Over Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Miss Nothing - The Pretty Reckless
> 
> "I'm misused, misconstrued  
> I don't need to be saved  
> Miss slighted, I mind it  
> I'm stuck in the rain
> 
> And I don't know where I am  
> And I don't know what I'm into  
> And I don't know what I've done to me."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

It was a few weeks later when things took a more complicated turn. It had all started with a surprise phone call and an idea that would end up changing every one of their lives, possibly forever.

Ariadne looked over at the clock when she heard a buzz coming from the intercom system; she frowned. It was 11:30 at night. Who would come by this late at night? Standing up from the couch, Ariadne made her way over to the intercom and pushed the talk button.

"Who is it?" she asked cautiously.

"It's Arthur."

"What are you doing here this late at night?"

"Just let me up," he answered urgently.

"Um...okay. Come up," Ariadne said as she suddenly felt worried by the sound of his voice, pushing the button to unlock the front door and then unlocking and opening the apartment door just as Arthur appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Where's Sadie?" he asked, entering the apartment when Ariadne stepped aside to give him room.

"She's in the shower," Ariadne answered, closing the door as she turned around to face him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How long has she been in there?"

"Um...not long. why?" Ariadne asked, confused by Arthur's non-Arthur like actions and awkward question after awkward question.

"I got a call from Xavier about an hour ago," he answered, running a hand anxiously through his hair.

If Ariadne hadn't been so shocked about Xavier calling Arthur, she would've been surprised by Arthur not giving any care to his hair then. For as long as she'd known him, she'd never seen him in such a state that his hair wasn't completely immaculate. And right now, it was disheveled and so unlike how he usually kept it. Whatever Xavier had called him about had definitely shaken him up a bit.

"What? He called you? Why?" Ariadne shot off a couple of questions back to back. "I thought the deal was to delete each other's numbers and not have any contact again after you and Eames agreed to stick around and watch over Sadie while he tried to fix things?"

Instead of replying to what she had said exactly, Arthur skipped straight to what had him so on edge.

"He's offered to pay us half of what he's already paying us to keep Sadie safe if we perform Inception on her."

Ariadne's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, what?" Ariadne asked not wanting to believe her ears. "Inception? On Sadie? What for?"

"He said that after a few weeks of thinking it through, he's realized that things may never get better. He's come to the conclusion that Sadie would be better off if she thinks he's dead," Arthur told her, giving her time to process what he said before he went on. "Apparently, just telling Sadie he's dead won't be enough to make her believe it, so he wants us to perform Inception on her to plant the idea that he's truly dead in her head so the idea will take quicker and she can hopefully move on with her life," he explained, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Will that even work?" Ariadne asked, her mind barely being able to process all that she'd just been told. "We've never tried to perform Inception on someone with an idea like that. I'm sure it's quite different than what we had to do on the Fischer job," Ariadne assumed. "I mean, planting an idea such as someone being dead when they're really not...it sounds impossible. And above all it is just plain cruel if it is indeed possible," Ariadne said, trying to make some sense of the situation while also trying to figure out why Arthur of all people would want to try such a thing that could have so many different result; he usually didn't agree to do anything unless he knew exactly what the result would be.

"Anything is possible in the dream world, Ariadne," Arthur reminded her.

Reaching into the fridge, Ariadne grabbed a bottled water and then proceeded to get two Advil from the cabinet for the splitting headache she suddenly had.

"This is unbelievable. I can't do this." She shook her head. "I can't perform Inception on my own cousin. I couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if she ever found out what we did." Ariadne bit her lip nervously. "No, just no. This is wrong on so many levels."

"I know it is, but if it means Sadie will be safer than she is now..." Arthur trailed off as Ariadne raised an eyebrow.

"Are you _actually_ , _truly_ thinking that this is a good idea?!" Ariadne asked in disbelief, her eyes wide from the shock coursing through her.

"It may be the only way to make this work." Arthur sighed, sounding defeated. "We can try to just tell her that he's dead and hope she believes us, but Xavier insists that Sadie won't believe it."

Ariadne huffed and made her way into the living room, sitting down on the couch before she lost her balance and ended up on the floor with a concussion or something. This was all way too much for her to try to take in and process.

"I'd rather try to convince her that he's dead with words instead of invading her privacy and ruining our relationship if she ever finds out about it. Family doesn't do that kind of stuff to family. It's just wrong." Ariadne insisted on doing it any other way, refusing to even give Inception a possible thought when it came Sadie.

Arthur nodded in understanding. "Alright then, see if you can convince her he's dead," he told her, willing to do anything just as long as it meant that Sadie would be safer. "If not, we have to perform Inception on her," he said in a defeated tone. "Anything that'll give her a better chance at being able to live in less danger than she is now."

"Okay," Ariadne replied, gulping down a few sips of her water. "I would much rather do that than Inception."

"Call me and let me know how it goes," Arthur said as hew walked over to the door after hearing the water to the shower turn off.

Ariadne looked up and exclaimed, "Wait!" She jumped up from the couch and rushed over to him. "You're leaving me here alone to tell her?!" She looked from him to the bathroom door and then back to him.

"She doesn't know I know her dad," Arthur reminded her, following Ariadne's own gaze towards the bathroom door.

If Ariadne hadn't been so nervous about having to try to convince Sadie that her dad was dad, she would've probably noticed the hint of something in Arthur's eyes. But that was not at all the case.

"If I stay then she'll know something is up and none of this will end well for any of us," Arthur pointed out, reaching for the door knob.

Ariadne huffed in annoyance. "Fine." She bit her tongue to keep from hissing. "Keep your phone on and don't go to bed anytime soon," she ordered. "I'll call you in the next hour or two."

Arthur nodded, turning the knob and pulling open the door. "Good luck," he replied before walking out, closing the door behind him.

"This sucks so much," Ariadne said out loud to herself as she turned and made her way back over to the couch.

She sat down and shook her head, feeling completely defeated. Ariadne leaned forward and put her head in her hands as she waited for Sadie to emerge from the bathroom. When she'd first asked Arthur and Eames to help out her cousin, this was far from what she'd been expecting to happen. She was quickly learning that not everything was what it seemed. Not in her life, anyways.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie turned off the water as she stepped out of the shower, wrapping her hair in one towel while wrapping another one around her body. She could swear she heard someone talking quietly out in the living room, but because of how late at night it was she just brushed it off. It was probably just a case of Ariadne having the tv volume up too loud. Walking over to the counter, Sadie wiped the fog off the mirror and stared back at herself.

It had been about a month since Sadie's whole world had been flipped upside down. Ever since then Sadie couldn't even manage to leave the apartment on her own without feeling like she was being followed or feeling like she wouldn't make it home that day. Therefore, she'd been escorted everywhere she had to go by either Arthur or Eames every time she wanted to go somewhere. No offense to neither Arthur nor Eames, but she felt like she was a criminal out on parole with an ankle monitor on.

The only good things about the past few weeks were that she was still alive at the end of each night, she found a sweet confidant in Arthur, and she found am equally fun drinking buddy in Eames. Sadie wasn't sure she would've been able to get through all of this if it weren't for the two of them. And Ariadne, of course.

However, Sadie still felt like a little kid again due to her needing someone with her at all waking hours, and she hated her dad for it so very much. Yet she still loved him because he was her dad. Had he never come back into her life or stolen that stupid program then Sadie would be living her life as a normal human being. But she wasn't lucky enough for that. Instead she was stuck feeling like a prisoner in her own skin. There was nothing worse than being free, but at the same time not being free. She was living in her own personal hell.

Although, if she had to be honest with herself, even if she could change the things that were happening now...she wouldn't. She was still grateful to have her dad in her life. Despite him also being the reason for her troubles, if he wasn't in her life then neither would Arthur. And neither would Eames either. Unless...they did have ties to Ariadne as well. So maybe even if things were different she would've still eventually met the two of them thanks to Ariadne. That was something Sadie would never be able to know for sure.

Sadie was dressed for bed a few minutes later, and she walked out into the living room planning on saying goodnight to Ariadne. The first thing she noticed was that the TV wasn't on. If it wasn't the TV, then who had she heard talking a few minutes ago? The second thing she noticed was Ariadne sitting on the couch with her head in her hands.

"Are you okay, Ariadne?" Sadie asked cautiously, walking over to her.

Ariadne looked up and took a deep breath before she answered, "I've got something to tell you, and you're not going to like it."

"Ariadne, you're scaring me," Sadie said, biting her lip. "What is it?"

"Your dad is..." Ariadne paused; she almost was not sure if she even wanted to say was she was about to say. But then she thought of the alternative, and she knew she had to try to use her words.

"Ariadne, what about my dad?" Sadie asked, an inkling of fear taking its temporary place in her mind. "What is my dad?"

Ariadne looked at the floor as she whispered, "He's dead."

Sadie blinked her eyes a couple of times and shook her head. "No, no he's not. You're lying to me. He's not dead, Ariadne! Don't lie to me! He's not dead!" Sadie insisted, her voice getting louder with each sentence, refusing to believe what she was hearing just like Arthur had told Ariadne that Xavier said she would.

"But he is," Ariadne told her quietly, forcing herself to keep up the lie even though she really didn't want to.

She knew it was wrong. So, so very wrong. But if it really meant Sadie would most likely be safer and stand a better chance at making it out of whatever it was alive then it was a risk she was going to force herself to take. No matter whether the outcome was bad for her own self or not. Just as long as Sadie was okay, that's all that mattered.

Sadie shook her head in complete denial. "You're lying Ariadne! You...you...he's not dead!" she exclaimed as she turned and ran into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Ariadne plopped back against the back of the couch. She was mentally cursing herself for going through with the lie, but she really didn't want to have to perform Inception on Sadie. Lying was just so much easier than performing Inception on Sadie and having Sadie maybe one day find out the truth and hate her for it for the rest of eternity. But since that didn't work out, she knew was she had to do.

Shaking her head, and hating herself for it, Ariadne grabbed her phone and reluctantly dialed Arthur's number.

"How'd it go?" Arthur asked, skipping the pleasantries when he answered the phone.

"She's in denial and doesn't believe it," Ariadne answered, feeling and hearing her voice beginning to break. "We're going to have to try and perform Inception. I don't know if it's actually gonna work or not. I feel horrible about all of this. But I'll start creating the maze levels after I get some sleep. I'll only have to create a maximum of two levels since this is such an easy idea to plant." Ariadne shook her head wanting nothing more than to just go to sleep and forget the passed hour had even happened. "I can't believe I'm actually going to go through with this," Ariadne said before hanging up without another word.

This was far from what Ariadne had wanted to happen. But it was out of her control. It was going to happen one way or another. Whether she was a part of it or not and she knew it. So why not just make it easier and get it over with quickly before anyone else, namely Sadie, found out about what was going on. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to explain Inception to her all those weeks ago. Now all it would take was one minor slip up for Sadie to be able to deduce the truth and then hate them all for invading her mind, which sadly Ariadne was putting her money on. After all, Ariadne had always been the type to expect the worst, but hope for the best.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie refused to believe it. There was no way her dad was dead. This had to be some kind of joke. But if it was, who would ever make up such a joke? No one could truly be that cruel, could they be? So obviously it was not a joke. But if the news was any indication, then people could be that cruel. But Sadie didn't think she knew anyone who could be that cruel personally. Aside from Nate, of course.

Either way it turned out to be, Sadie still absolutely refused to believe it. There was no way that her dad was really dead. Right? It had been a few weeks since she'd last talked to him, but she hadn't thought anything of it. She had assumed that he didn't call because she told him she couldn't talk to him anymore. Yeah, that was it. That had to be what it was. Her dad was very much alive and she hadn't heard from him because he was being respectful of what she wanted. After all, he had spent the entire last twenty years of his life being taught and learning how not to die, and he had done a pretty damn good job of it so far.

Needing reassurance, Sadie grabbed her phone from the bedside table and dialed her dad's number. She ended up getting the answering machine. A terrifying feeling settled in her stomach, and she found herself redialing his number again. Just like the first time, she got his answering machine again. Panic suddenly began to set in, but Sadie quickly pushed the feeling to the side; she was not going to assume the worse without proof first. Her dad surely had a good reason for not answering her call, and that reason was not because he was dead; she was sure of it. She refused to believe otherwise; she just simply refused to.

Sadie got out of bed without another thought, unwrapping the towel from her head and throwing it to the floor as she walked over to her closet. She put on the first dress and pair of heels she got her hands on. Not even caring about what her hair looked like, she left the room. She needed fresh air; she had to get out of there. The apartment suddenly felt like a prison cell and she was quickly losing all of her sanity that was left by being there.

**~TheMiddle~**

"Where are you going?" Ariadne asked while abruptly standing up from the couch when she heard Sadie's heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

"Out," Sadie answered simply not bothering to look at her cousin.

"Alone?" she asked, walking towards her.

"I'm 22 years old, Ariadne!" Sadie snapped suddenly turning on her heel and spinning around to glare at Ariadne. "I'm very much capable of going out by myself! I don't need a freaking babysitter or bodyguard or whatever when I go out!"

Ariadne took a few steps back as a look of surprise due to Sadie's outbreak crossed over her facial features. "Alright, okay," Ariadne spoke not being able to form any other coherent words as she lifted her hands in a surrendering motion.

Sadie sighed as she shook her head and ran a hand through her still damp hair.

"I'm sorry, Aria," she apologized moments later, having lowered her voice back down to normal. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

Ariadne waved a hand, brushing it off. "No, it's fine," she assured her. "It's understandable for you to be acting like you are."

A flash of disbelief flashed in Sadie's eyes as she still refused to believe what Ariadne had told her earlier.

"I just need some air," Sadie said with the door open and one foot already out the door giving a small glance in Ariadne's direction. "And a drink. Okay? That's it. I'll be back before you know it,"

Ariadne nodded, doing her best to hide the fact that she already knew her cousin most likely wouldn't be coming back that night.

"Don't wait up, Aria!" Sadie called over her shoulder as the door shut behind her.

" _No worries, I won't_ ," Ariadne thought to herself.

Ariadne wasted no time rushing over to the couch and grabbing her phone, pushing the redial button.

"Sadie just left," she said partially out of breath from the quick sprint she'd just done. "She said she needed a drink so she's most likely heading to the nearest bar to here."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Just keep an eye on her okay?" Ariadne couldn't keep the defeated sound out of her tone. "The situation is already screwed up as is and I'd rather it not get any worse."

"Will do."


	7. Sleepovers and Inception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; The Cycle by Emily Osment
> 
> "Same old push and pull  
> You got no time  
> You can't be late  
> This is your life  
> Breaking teeth for smiles  
> One for the game  
> One just for the cycle,"
> 
> "It's me looking back at you now  
> You think you've got it figured it out  
> But you're so predictable."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

Sadie came to with an all too familiar headache that was almost becoming a second nature feeling for her every time she woke up. She really needed to find a new outlet for everything bad she was going through lately. Preferably a new outlet in which drinking was not involved in any way, shape, or form what-so-ever. Maybe yoga or something; she could find the time.

Ever so slowly, Sadie sat up and looked around the room, taking in her surroundings as quickly as her mind would process them. It didn't take long for her to realize she wasn't in her own bed, nor was she at home. She was in an unfamiliar place, and yet she could hear sounds from outside that let her know she was still in Paris somewhere.

Sadie pushed the covers off of herself and shivered as the cool air hit her exposed skin. Looking down she realized she was still in the dress she wore the night before. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. The room she was in had a king sized bed, two nightstands on either side of the bed, an armoire, and a dresser. It was pretty simple, but it was still warm and inviting. Almost like Arthur was.

"Oh my God! Why am I thinking of him again?" Sadie asked herself.

He had been invading her mind quite a bit lately. It surprised Sadie a lot because before now she hadn't been the type to constantly think about a man she barely knew. Especially after only a couple of weeks. What the heck was wrong with her? Maybe there was such a thing as love at first sight. No, wait, that would require loving Arthur and Sadie definitely didn't love him. She was attracted to him, of course, but love wasn't even in the near future for her when it came to him nor anyone else.

Not being able to control her urge to look around, Sadie found herself walking around the room, running her curious fingers along the furniture. It was simple black furniture. The color and type of furniture someone would buy if they were rarely home but still liked to come home to something that looked good. The kind that didn't get used much but also didn't make anyone want to turn right back around once they stepped foot inside out of distaste or boredom at the look of the furniture.

"Sorry, it's quite boring in here," a voice said, catching Sadie off guard.

Sadie immediately felt like a deer in the headlights and froze up. She gained control of herself a few seconds later and turned around to find Arthur standing in the door way, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"It's not boring," she replied, shaking her head. "It's...it's so you. And besides, I'm sure you don't stay here that much. Therefore, there's no reason for it to be anything other than what it is now."

A silence fell between the two and they both just stood where they were. It was definitely awkward, but not in the run away now type of awkward.

"This is your place?" Sadie asked stupidly when she couldn't bare the silence any longer.

Arthur nodded and answered simply, "It is." He stood there, watching her as she continued her exploration of the room. "One of them," he added as an afterthought.

Sadie briefly wondered just how many places he had. And in what cities or countries were they located in. Maybe one day she'd get to see them all.

"So why am I here, if you do not mind my asking?" Sadie asked; she mentally slapped herself in the head afterwards.

What kind of question was that? If that didn't sound like a way of saying "I don't really want to be here,' then other than bluntly saying so nothing else would. Except she actually did want to be there, and she didn't mind one bit that she was.

"You don't remember anything about last night?" Arthur asked, eyebrows raised, pushing off from the doorframe and stepping into the room.

Cue Sadie's breath catching in her throat and suddenly feeling week in her knees just because of his entire presence in the room. Yeah, there was definitely something different about him if just his mere presence could make her week in the knees. And it almost seemed like it was something more than just a mere attraction on Sadie's part. Could it be that she really was falling for him? Or was this just a case of whatever that syndrome or whatever it was called for the rescued person falling in love with the one who had rescued their life?

"Well based on my hang over headache, I know that I drank last night but other than that I'm not sure." She managed to answer once her voice came back to her.

Oh god! That was the second time he had to deal with her drunk. He must think she'd lost it or something. Or that she at least has a drinking problem. It was definitely not helping to make herself look good in front of him. Oh, yeah. She definitely had to find another way to hide away from her sorrows. She could not afford to look like an alcoholic or someone who couldn't handle any pressure in her life in front of him anymore. Never again.

"You drank more than your body could handle last night," he informed her with an unreadable expression on his face. "You got sick before I could get you to your apartment, so I brought you here."

Now that she actually thought about it, she could smell the faint scent of puke clinging to her hair and clothes. For the love of God, she'd even gotten sick in front of him. If he wasn't currently in the room she'd probably throw herself on the ground and throw a childish temper tantrum of some sort because of her actions around him. Although it's not like he hadn't already seen her at her dumbest. Why not show her childish side too? It couldn't make him think any less of her than he probably already did.

"Thank you for putting up with me then," Sadie joked, smiling briefly.

"Anytime," he replied with a matching smile that lasted just as long as her own.

"I wasn't as bad as I was the first drunken night, was I? I mean, I didn't try to sleep with you or anything, right?" Sadie asked before she could stop herself. "Oh, no. Nevermind." She shook her head, waving her hand as a brush off. "That was a completely stupid, unnecessary question. I should really try to work on my bluntness."

Arthur laughed; Sadie couldn't think of anyone else who had a better sounding laugh than he did. "It's fine. I wouldn't expect anything less," he assured her. "It's nice to meet a girl for once who doesn't pretend to be someone she isn't."

"Thank you. I try." Sadie blushed profusely, her face turning crimson red.

Arthur shrugged a shoulder. "Just stating the truth."

Sadie resisted the small urge to roll her eyes at his nonchalant reply. It amazed her how quickly he could go from laughing and being playful to being serious and nonchalant again.

"So I should probably go home now." Sadie said suddenly feeling awkward just standing there and doing nothing. "It's still light out so it can't be but so late."

Arthur took Sadie by surprise when he suggested, "Or you could just stay the night again."

"Wait. I'm sorry. What?" Sadie asked as she did a double take, staring at him with wide eyes while trying to process his suggestion.

Arthur shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, it's already a little past five," he explained his suggestion. "You could just stay here and sleep off your hangover. Go home tomorrow."

Sadie thought of any reason that she had to not stay, but couldn't really think of any. Except for one, but it wouldn't do her any good. But she used it anyway. If he had a response to her excuse then she would take it as a sign that staying another night would be okay.

"I don't have a change of clothes," Sadie said with a frown; as much as she loved her dress, she wanted something more comfortable to change into after she got a shower.

"I'm sure I can find something for you to wear," Arthur replied, raising an eyebrow at her as if to challenge her to come up with a rebuttal to his reply.

"Umm...uhh..." Sadie couldn't form a coherent thought as she nervously tapped her fingers on the dresser, avoiding eye contact with him.

She couldn't think of any excuse to leave other than the clothes excuse. Although, quite frankly, she was more than okay with staying. So excuse or no excuse, it wasn't going to make a difference.

"Alright," Sadie said with a nervous smile, laugh.

An awkward silence filled the room as neither of them would look at the other. You could cut the nervous tension in the room with a meat cleaver. A regular knife wouldn't even stand a chance.

"So since I'm staying again, would it be too much to ask if I could take a shower to get this puke smell out of my hair?" Sadie asked, removing her fingers from the dresser and taking a step closer to the door and Arthur.

"The bathroom is down the hall on the left," Arthur answered, stepping out of the doorway to allow Sadie room to get by. "There are clean towels and washcloths in the bathroom closet."

"Thank you." Sadie smiled as she practically ran out of the bedroom; she didn't stop moving until she was in the bathroom, closing the door and locking the door behind her.

Once in the bathroom, Sadie let out a breath of air that she didn't even know she was holding in. She leaned against the back of the bathroom door, and allowed her body to slide down until she was in a sitting position on the floor, her legs pressed up against her body with her head resting on her knees.

This was all too much. What had she just gotten herself into by saying yes to his suggestion of her staying another night? Well okay, the answer to that was probably nothing. There was no proof that Arthur felt even the slightest attraction towards her like she did him. For all Sadie knew it could easily be one-sided attraction. Although, he did seem like the type of guy who could very easily hide how he felt about someone. So maybe it was possible he was attracted to her, too; he probably just had a good way of hiding it. Sadie would never know for sure unless somehow, some way Arthur would let his guard down for even the shortest of moments so that she could see at least a small inkling of how he felt towards her. Somehow she doubted that would ever happen; he had control over his emotions more than anyone else she'd ever known before.

Sadie sat unmoving on the floor for a few minutes  before she stood up and made her way over to the shower, stripping along the way. Her dress followed by her bra and then her underwear falling and landing wherever they landed on the floor leaving a trail of clothes behind her. She retrieved a couple towels and a wash cloth from the closest, hanging the towels on the towel rack and holding onto the washcloth as she turned the water on. Once the water temperature was just the way she liked it, she stepped in.

The water soothingly cascaded down her body, from her head down to her toes. Allowing herself to give into the feeling of the hot water, Sadie closed her eyes as she leaned back against the shower wall. However, a relaxing shower wasn't completely in the cards for her. Just as fast as her eyes closed, they shot back open. She was suddenly seeing _him_ when she closed her eyes, maybe due to the fact that she was currently showering in his shower. That turned out to be the case when the fact that the only thing separating her from Arthur was a locked door sent cool shivers up and down her spine despite the hot water running over her body.

A warm, tingly sensation appeared out of nowhere and formed at her center. She rubbed her legs together, shivering at the sudden feeling. It took every single fiber in her being to fight herself not to give into temptation and slide her hand between her legs, relieving the tension. Sadie wasn't sure if she would be able to keep her cool around Arthur if she knew that she'd gotten off to thoughts of him in his own shower.

Shaking her head and ignoring the feeling between her legs, Sadie went about washing her hair and body using the shampoo and body wash that was in the shower. She breathed in the scent, smiling at the fact that she was now going to smell exactly like Arthur did. And if that was not already enough, she was soon going to be wearing some of his clothes as well. As if she wasn't already high on Arthur as it was. If only the circumstances surrounding her attraction to him were different, then maybe she'd be able to act on her thoughts and feelings for him. Not knowing if he was attracted to her back really put a damper on acting on her attraction towards him. She wasn't sure how she'd react if she put herself out there only to get rejected by him.

With a sigh, Sadie turned off the water and reached out of the shower, grabbing the towels she'd pulled out of the closet minutes earlier. She wrapped her hair in one and her body in the other before stepping out into the cool air of the bathroom. Bending down, Sadie picked up her dress and under garments and folded them up before putting them into a neat pile near the door. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Unlocking and opening the door, she found Arthur standing there with clothes in his hand. He must've waited until he heard the shower turn off to come give her the clothes.

"I hope these will be enough," he said, handing the clothes to her.

Sadie nodded and smiled, taking them from him. "They'll do. Thank you."

He smiled back. "Of course."

Sadie sighed and tried to keep herself from blushing. That smile. Oh, that smile of his. That smile of his was what did it. The sting of the possible rejection that would follow be damned. Without another thought, Sadie pretended to accidentally lose grip of her towel and allowed it to unwrap itself from her body and fall to the floor. She was then completely exposed in front of Arthur. She couldn't help smirk when even though his eyes grew wide in shock, she noticed Arthur's eyes look her up and down.

"Oops," Sadie said innocently, playing it off as an accident as she shrugged her shoulders.

Arthur adverted his gaze from her, picking and staring at a spot on the wall behind her. "Umm, I would get your towel for you, but...uhh..." He reached a hand up to his hair and scratched his head nervously as his other hand went straight to his pocket.

Upon seeing Arthur's tongue dart out of his mouth and lick his lips, Sadie had to bite her own tongue to keep from moaning at the sudden thought of him on the floor in front of her naked self. Oh goodness. That brought on some very naughty thoughts.

"Well, I'm just going to leave you to get dressed in private," Arthur said in a rushed tone of voice, a shade of red taking over his cheeks as he turned on his heel and more or less ran down the small hallway, disappearing around the corner into what was sure to be the living room.

Sadie sighed as she bent down and picked up her towel. She didn't even bother wrapping it back around herself as she turned around and walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Well that didn't work out at all how she had wanted it to. But it wasn't a complete failure either. If the up and down look wasn't the sign she'd been looking for, then she didn't know what was. She was now aware that he was equally as attracted to her as she was to him. That was at least a small win for her.

**~TheMiddle~**

It was sometime around midnight when Ariadne's phone went off. She dove across her bed to grab it from its place on the bedside table.

"Hello," she answered as soon as she pushed the talk button.

"She's finally asleep," Arthur said from the other end of the line.

"Alright," Ariadne replied simply as she was still fighting the urge to just say no to the whole plan and back out.

She had been contemplating it all day long. The whole time she was creating the maze levels, after she finished the mazes, and even while she, Arthur, and Eames were all going through how they were going to pull off Inception this time. But something inside of her had told her over and over again to just do it. Although, at the same time, something else inside of her was telling her that it still wasn't too late to back out. She could back out at anytime up until they went under.

It was going to be more difficult with Sadie, but it wasn't entirely impossible to do. The dream levels were set. She, Arthur, and Eames all knew what part they'd play, and they had the time they needed to make it another successful attempt at Inception. All that was holding them back now was Ariadne's hesitation to go through with it.

Sensing the obvious doubt in Ariadne's voice, Arthur asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I will ever be," Ariadne answered honestly, a hint of doubt still managing to sneak its way through.

"It's gonna be okay," he assured her.

"Yeah, sure."

"Really, Ariadne, it'll all turn out for the best," he told her confidently. "Sadie will be somewhat safer and _we_ can all rest a little bit easier."

" _We_ all can?"

"Umm...yeah, we all can."

"Okay, I'll be over soon," Ariadne said, not bothering to get into what he meant by _we;_ although, she did make a mental note to find out why he was acting so protective of Sadie lately as she hung up.

Yeah, there was absolutely no backing out now.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie woke with a start, screaming uncontrollably as tears ran down her face. No matter how much she wanted to deny it and realize it wasn't true she couldn't any longer. Her dad being dead was now invading her dreams as well as her reality, and there's no way he'd be dead in her dreams and reality at the same time if it wasn't really true. At least she hoped not. What kind of awful joke would that be?

"Oh, God! no!" Sadie cried, gasping for breath.

She heard a knock at the door and Arthur's voice from the other side of the door. "Sadie?! Is everything okay?"

Before she could contemplate what she was doing, Sadie was up and out of bed, swinging the door open, and flinging herself against an unexpecting Arthur. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, but then he placed a soothing hand on her back, rubbing in hopefully calming circles.

"He's dead. He's really dead, isn't he? My dad is dead," Sadie cried, her voice muffled, as she pressed her face against Arthur's chest, soaking his shirt with all of her tears.

"I'm sorry, Sadie," Arthur said quietly and sincerely as he stood there with her in the doorway.

The sound of Arthur's voice was enough to reveal that it truly killed him inside to see her this way. But in Sadie's saddened state, she didn't have it in her to question why her being sad would have such an impact on him like it seemed to.

"I did not want to believe it, but...but something like this can't just be made up in both dreams and reality." She shook her head. "It'd just be so wrong and so cruel." Sadie sniffled, picking her head up and looking up at him.

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it would be."

"Sorry about your shirt," Sadie apologized, calming down just enough so that she could breath a little easier.

"Don't worry," Arthur assured her with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's just water."

Sadie smiled at him slightly as she wiped the tears from her face.

He smiled back at her with a warm, soothing smile and something awoke inside her. Most likely it was courage just because of that smile he gave her. That smile truly did things to her that she couldn't understand, nor that she could control.

As if she wasn't herself all of a sudden, Sadie stood up on the tip of her toes and grabbed the back of Arthur's head, bringing their lips together in a frantic kiss, frantic mostly on her part at first. She was completely surprised by her actions. But she was even more surprised when, for just a moment, he actually kissed her back. However, he must've realized what was happening because he pulled away from her just as quickly as he had started kissing her.

Sadie stepped back from him, her face red with a mixture of blush and embarrassment. "Umm...I that..." Sadie tried to say something, anything, but nothing really came out.

"I'm gonna...umm...go out there somewhere," Arthur said, nodding his head somewhere behind him just before turning and walking away without another word.

Sadie leaned against the doorframe and banged her head repeatedly against it, her fingers reaching up to brush against her lips. What the hell was wrong with her? One minute she's crying because her dad is dead, and she finally can't deny it any longer. Then the next she's kissing Arthur and making a fool of herself in the process. What the hell? Just really, what the hell was wrong with her all of a sudden? Based on her timing, she wouldn't be surprised if he just thought the kiss was circumstantial instead of actually having any meaning to it. Just fuck her life, literally.

**~TheMiddle~**

"That fast?" Ariadne asked in disbelief at what Arthur was telling her.

"I don't quite understand it either," he confessed to her. "I can only guess that maybe because the idea was straight to the point and she already had prior knowledge of him possibly being dead that her mind processed it quicker and easier than an idea like the one we planted in Fischer's mind. It wasn't an idea that was suppose to take long to set in."

"I guess that sounds possible. After all, you did say that anything is possible when it comes to dreams," Ariadne agreed. " Not to mention, it does generally depend on the person and what their minds are capable of processing."

"Precisely."

"So is she there still?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"No, she left here about an hour ago."

"Alone?!" Ariadne shrieked, tensing up.

"Not exactly." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I sent Eames to follow her just to be on the safe side."

"Oh, okay." Ariadne felt herself relax instantly. "I was wondering if you could come over in the next hour or so?"

"What for?"

"I need to talk to you about something before Sadie gets home."


	8. Playing Matchmakers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I realize that there is all this doubting  
> Things we're both scared about but  
> We'll never see them coming  
> Throw caution to the wind and  
> We'll see what way it's blowing  
> And into this fully knowing  
> We'll never see it coming  
> Until it's much too close to stop,"
> 
> \- Kelly Clarkson
> 
> This chapter is more or less just a filler chapter in a way, but it's still important to certain aspects of the story.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

For someone who insisted she was going to cut back on the drinking, Sadie sure did end up back at the bar quickly. But in her defense, it had nothing to do with her fearing for her life, or her feeling so completely vulnerable this time. She just simply wanted to enjoy a _single_ drink for once. No reason to get drunk this time. Just a simple drink, that was all. Or at least that's what she told herself. She could easily stay away if that's what she wanted to do. But it wasn't; Not now, anyways.

Although, one could argue that she was drinking as an outlet from dealing with her dad being dead. Her dad always did say not to cry over someone dying. He always used to say to celebrate the life that the person lived instead. For once, she intended to take her dad's words to heart. It was the least she could do to make him proud one last time.

But no it was really just a drink for the heck of it on her part this time. Or, okay well, maybe it did sort of have something to do with the fact that earlier that morning she had made a complete fool of herself with Arthur. Cause' really, what the hell was she thinking when she kissed him? He must've thought she was insane or something.

After the kiss, Sadie had left his apartment faster than she'd ever left anywhere before. She had made a quick stop at her and Ariadne's apartment to change her clothes. Then she ended up sitting there at the bar with a drink in hand. _A drink_ being the keywords. She had been very careful as to not drink too much. She truly was planning on cutting back a bit, and _a drink_ was a good place to start.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking, love?"  A voice that had become very familiar in the past month asked from behind her, stealing her from her thoughts.

"It's never too early," she answered as she took a swig of her drink.

"That's true." The person agreed, signaling to the bar tender to bring them a drink. "A little birdie told me you stayed with Arthur yesterday."

Sadie could practically hear the smirk on his face as he changed the subject while sitting down beside her.

"Your point being, Eames?" she asked, looking over at him with a small frown.

"My point being, did something happen or not?" Eames asked, wearing the smirk that Sadie had been sure that he did.

"Why do you ask that like you expect something to happen between Arthur and I?" Sadie asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at him.

"For one, it doesn't take a genius to notice the way you two act around and towards one another." He winked at her, knowingly. "And two, Arthur never takes someone back to any of his places unless there's a bigger reason for it."

Sadie rolled her eyes. "How would you know he never takes anyone to his apartment without a reason?" Sadie asked before she could think twice about it. "Are you suddenly the professor for Arthur 101?"

"Doesn't matter." Eames ignored both of her questions and instead switched the subject back to what he wanted to know. "Back to you and our darling Arthur."

Sadie shook her head and laughed a little not having the drive to continue arguing with him like she normally would have had. "It's not like that between us, Eames. You must be noticing something wrong if you think there's something more happening between us," Sadie insisted, deciding that she would not be the first one to admit her own feelings out loud. What's the point if there was no proof other than an up and down look that they were reciprocated?

"But you want it to be more."

"What the hell, Eames?!" Sadie asked, looking at him with a look that she'd give an alien. "You don not know what I want!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "I'm perfectly fine with how everything is now," Sadie insisted, lying straight through her teeth and knowing instantly that Eames would see right through it.

"Now, love, there's no reason to lie to me," He said in a chastising tone of voice, tsking at her. "It's already obvious and out in the open that you both feel the same way about each other," he pointed out to her. "Or to everyone but the two of you, apparently."

Liquid courage took over after Sadie took another sip of her drink and she blew up like a pipe bomb as she admitted, "For fuck's sake! I've already dropped hints about me being attracted to him. Way too many times it seems like. I mean, god, I've been attracted to Arthur from the very moment I met him, which is so very unusual for me, especially since only two days prior to first meeting him I had just gotten out of my last relationship."

"What kind of hints are we talking?" Eames asked curiously. "Were they small hints or big hints?"

Sadie huffed. "I kissed him, and I even dropped my towel in front of him. Not in that order," she answered. "I think those would be classified as the biggest hints one could drop," she said, blowing a puff of air from her mouth in frustration. "Or maybe I should just jump him?" She suggested the idea with a chuckle. "If that doesn't work, then it'll definitely be clear that he doesn't return my feelings."

Eames laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, he most definitely returns your feelings, love," he told her, the confidence in his voice very clear. "He's just too much of a clueless stick in the mud to realize such hints when they're given."

Sadie rolled her eyes and sighed frustratedly. "Yeah, that's a freaking given."

"So this kiss..." Eames trailed off for effect before finishing his train of though. "Was it short and simple in which he could've read it as something other than feelings or..."

Sadie growled, a real growl. "For fuck's sake, Eames!" Sadie exclaimed, turning to him and grabbing him by the back of his head, pulling him to her.

Their lips met and Sadie kissed him just like how she had kissed Arthur earlier that morning. Oh god, how come it felt right in such a screwed up way? Kissing two guys in less than probably five hours or so and enjoying them both, even if for just a short period of time. Sadie pulled away just as she felt Eames begin to kiss her back, bringing her back to her correct senses. As soon as she pulled away from him, she turned back to the bar and downed the rest of her drink.

They both sat there saying nothing at all for what felt like years.

"What was that all about?" Eames asked, breaking the silence as he downed his own drink.

Sadie shrugged her shoulders and played it cool as she answered, "It was just easier to show you rather than try to describe a kiss like that."

Eames nodded in understanding before more silence fell between them.

"He's blind if he doesn't realize what a kiss like that means," Eames said, being the one to break the silence _again_.

"It seems as if he is blind then."

"If you say so."

"Besides with everything that's going on right now, it wouldn't be the right time for anything to happen between us even if we did both feel something for each other and acted on said feelings."

"Live everyday like it's your last, Sadie," Eames told her.

She looked over at him for the first time since their kiss and asked, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Eames lifted an eyebrow. "You have never heard the saying before?"

"Well, yeah, I have, but what does that have to do with my situation?"

"If everything goes badly, you do not want any regrets weighing on you, do you?" He asked her. "And I'm willing to bet that if you don't act on your feelings for Arthur and see where they lead, then you'll regret it."

Sadie looked at him in shock and questioned, "Who are you and what have you done with the Eames I've come to know in the past month?" Seconds later she added, "I mean, you just don't seem to be the type to talk in such a meaningful way."

Eames shrugged his shoulders. "I don't seem like the type to do or say a lot of things."

"Yeah, that is true," Sadie agreed with a nod of her head.

Her talk with Eames definitely gave her a lot of food for thought.

**~TheMiddle~**

"Thank you for coming over, Arthur." Ariadne smiled, opening the door and letting him in.

"What was so important that you couldn't talk to me about it over the phone?" Arthur asked as he turned to face her.

Ariadne thought to herself for a moment, trying to decide whether she should simply go for it or slowly ease into what she wanted to know. Curiousity ended up winning in the end and Ariadne found herself bluntly asking, "Do you have some sort of feelings for Sadie?" Ariadne was shocked by her personal bluntness, but just took it as she had once again been living with Sadie for too long. This wasn't the first time Sadie's personality had worn off on her, and it certainly wouldn't be the last either.

Arthur's eyes widened as he was immediately taken aback by Ariadne's straight to the point question.

"Sorry. I probably shouldn't have rushed into that," Ariadne said when Arthur didn't speak for a while.

Arthur shook his head and nervously cleared his throat. "No, that's fine," he assured her even though his actions proved otherwise as he ran a hand nervously through his hair. "I was not expecting that question at all."

"Do you?" Ariadne asked again. "The answer is yes, right? I mean, you've been dropping hints left and right."

"Hints?"

Ariadne nodded. "When you were convincing me to go along with performing Inception on Sadie, you mentioned _we_ would all sleep better knowing Sadie was safer. If you didn't feel something for her, then you wouldn't have been losing any sleep over her situation," Ariadne stated in a matter of fact tone. "Not only that, you've been overprotective of her lately. The type of overprotective that you get when you like someone more than just a friend."

"You caught on to those things," Arthur said with a sigh, sitting down on the couch.

"I did." Ariadne shook her head and smiled brightly. "I'm quite observant. You already know that, though," Ariadne replied, sitting down in the chair adjacent from the couch. "So you never answered my question. Do you have some sort of feelings for Sadie?"

Arthur looked at Ariadne and nodded his head as he admitted, "Probably more than I should."

"What do you mean more than you should?" Ariadne asked, slightly confused. "Do you have no intentions of acting on your feelings for her?"

"Why would I?" Arthur asked her honestly. "For one, I don't know if she feels the same way. And for two, after all of this is said and done,  I'll be gone onto a new job and it's not like I could just leave or ask her to come with me if something happened between us."

"You don't have to leave," Ariadne pointed out.

Arthur frowned. "If the next job requires me to then I do."

"Arthur, you really need to separate your professional and personal lives," Ariadne said, feeling slightly sad for him. "You actually have a chance at a personal life now. You should try it out and see where it leads," she urged him gently. "Trust me, you and Sadie are good for each other. Now if only the two of you would realize it already."

"Ariadne..." Arthur started to say.

Ariadne held up a hand to silence him. "If you are gonna argue with me, then don't even say another word." She gave him a pointed look that dared him to try her. "Just give it a shot."

"How do I know she feels the same way that I do?"

"Trust me, Arthur, I know my cousin." Ariadne grinned widely from ear to ear. "She feels the same way. It just so happens, though, that when it comes to feeling something for someone she's not as blunt as she is about other things."

"But..." Arthur opened his mouth to argue with her.

"No," Ariadne said firmly, rolling her eyes. "But nothing," she insisted. "It's worth a shot, Arthur." She smirked when she saw the flash of remembrance in his eyes. "You had no problem doing it with me on the Fischer job, which is another reason I'm fairly certain that what you feel for Sadie is so much more than just simple attraction."

Arthur couldn't argue with her even if he wanted to. She was right.

**~TheMiddle~**

Ariadne opened the door with a smile. "Have you talked to Sadie?" she asked as she moved to the side, allowing Eames room to get by her.

"I came from the bar," Eames told her, sitting down on the couch.

Ariadne closed the door and walked into the kitchen to get a water from the fridge, "You want a water?" she asked politely, looking over her shoulder at him, already knowing the answer.

Eames shook his head no. "Did you talk to Arthur?" he asked.

Ariadne nodded and said with a smile, "He left about 15 minutes ago."

"You think our talks will get them together?" Eames asked, looking up at Ariadne as she walked into the living room and sat down next to him.

Ariadne shrugged, unscrewing the cap of her water bottle and taking a sip. "It's too soon to tell," she answered truthfully. "Arthur still seemed a little doubtful about whether or not Sadie feels the same way."

"It's not just him." Eames sighed, earning himself a questioning expression from Ariadne. "Sadie's convinced that Arthur doesn't feel the same way about her either. She said she kissed him and even dropped her towel in front of him and he walked away each time."

Ariadne spit out some of her water from her most recent sip at hearing that; it was better that she spit it out than choked on it. "Yet Arthur still doesn't realize that Sadie feels the same way he does?"

Eames shrugged. "Sadie and I have come to the conclusion that's he blind."

"Apparently so." Ariadne laughed. "What's left for Sadie to do now? Jump him?"

It was Eames's turn to laugh.  "I'm not even sure that would work."

"Do you think they'll realize that we've been trying to get them together this whole time?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"Sadie, maybe," Eames answered without any hesitation. "Arthur, maybe if Sadie figures it out and tells him."

"You really like to tease him even when he's not around, don't you?"

Eames's face lit up with a shit eating grin as he shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a fun way to pass time." He looked to be basking in the through. "And he makes it oh so easy."

Ariadne rolled her eyes at his childish antics. Then she laughed as a thought came to mind.

"What's so funny?" Eames eyes her curiously.

Shaking her head, Ariadne answered, "Oh, nothing really. Just thinking back to a grade school saying. But let's not get into that."


	9. If You Play With Fire, You Are Gonna Get Burned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Play with Fire by Hilary Duff
> 
> "You never know just what you got  
> 'Til it's gone, you freak out  
> But I'm not falling for that game  
> Boys like you never change."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.

Sadie was out for her morning jog and something just didn't feel right. She had decided days ago that she wasn't going to let the current situation she was in ruin her completely, so she was still going through with her normal daily routine. Although, she did carry around a purse with a tazer, pepper spray, and a loaded hand gun just in case. It made her feel safer when she didn't have Arthur or Eames keeping her company.

The hair on the back of Sadie's neck stood up when she suddenly felt a presence behind her. Part of her was telling her to look behind her and see who it was. However, the other part of her was screaming to start running faster. After all, looking back never helped anyone in horror movies. It only slowed them down. In that case, the same probably applied in reality as well.

"Sadie!" She heard a voice call from behind her that had he mentally cursing up a storm.

Sadie tensed up and didn't stop jogging, recognizing the voice right away. It was Nate. Sadie decided to listen to the other part of her and started running faster in hopes of getting away from him. But she could hear his footsteps getting closer and louder as he tried to catch up to her. That was the last thing she wanted. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him; she just wanted him to leave her alone for good.

"Sadie, please stop!" Nate called after her.

Sadie felt him grab her arm a few moments later and was forced to an abrupt stop. Sadie turned around quickly, yanking her arm from his grasp as she did. Standing face to face with him for the first time in a long while, she glared an imaginary hole right through him. If only looks could kill she could easily move on with her life. But she had never been that lucky before.

"What in the hell do you want, Nate?" Sadie asked angrily, crossing her arms over her chest to help convey her annoyance.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Nate answered her, looking shocked by her tone.

Sadie shook her head in disbelief and scoffed. "For real? How the hell do you think I'm doing, Nate? I'm at my wits end right now hoping and praying every day when I wake up and every night before bed that I make it safely through the whole day."

"Sadie, I'm sorry that you're having to go through all of this. I truly am," Nate told her in a tone that Sadie couldn't tell if it was really sincere or not. She was beginning to realize even more just how little she had actually none the guy she thought she wanted to spend the rest of her life with not even a month ago.

"Yeah, sure you are, Nate," Sadie replied doubtfully as she rolled her eyes at him. "So is that it?"

"Well, actually..." Nate said, trailing off as he looked nervously down at his feet.

Not in the mood to waste any time, Sadie informed him in a matter-of-fact tone, "You've got 60 seconds to tell me what you want before I turn around and leave."

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to have dinner with me tonight?" Nate asked successfully shocking Sadie beyond belief.

Sadie frowned at him. This was all too stupid to be true. She had to be dreaming. Or at this moment in time if she wasn't, then she was wishing she was. Was Nate out of his mind? What the hell would ever give him any hope at all that she'd ever even think for a second about saying yes to that.

"Are you out of your everloving mind?" She asked him in disbelief, a deep scowl appearing on her face.

"I have something to tell you as well as some things to explain, and I figured dinner would give me enough time to do so," Nate explained unusually nervous, shoving his hands in his pockets to add on to the confusion Sadie felt at him acting so unNate like.

Sadie shook her head and rolled her eyes. There was absolutely no way she'd sit through an entire dinner with him. Even if she had the feeling that whatever he wanted to tell her was something important.

"Hmm...let me think about that one for a moment." She pretended to think about his offer. "How about no."

"Sadie..." Nate began to argue.

Sadie looked at her watch and sighed a sigh of relief. "Your minute is up. It was so nice talking to you," she said sarcastically, turning abruptly and jogging away before he could say another word.

She didn't stop jogging again until she was back at the apartment. She'd decided on her way back that she wanted to invade Nate's dreams one more time to see what he wanted to tell her over dinner. She wanted to know, but she didn't want to know on his terms. Sadie wanted to know on her own terms. Whatever he wanted to explain to her surely he'd explain to her projection because the real her wouldn't give him the time of day in reality. She was sure that Nate couldn't bare to live with what he knew without telling at least one version of her.

Upon entering the apartment, an uncontrollable smile lit up Sadie's face when she noticed that Arthur was there. Despite the tingle of weirdness she felt in the pit of her stomach after their kiss, Sadie needed his help. So freaking out over the kiss would have to wait. In the meantime, she could ask him if he'd help her follow through on her plan to invade Nate's dreams again. It was like fate was thinking the same thing she was.

"I'm back," Sadie said unnecessarily, walking to the kitchen to get a bottle of water to help cool herself down with.

"How was your jog?" Ariadne asked, looking at her from where she was standing.

"It was good," Sadie answered, making sure to not mention her run in with Nate yet. "I didn't know you'd be here," Sadie said as she turned her attention to Arthur.

"I am just leaving," Arthur said, standing up quickly; the kiss from earlier must've been weighing heavily on his mind because he couldn't have seemed to want to leave any quicker than he was in that moment in time.

"Well, actually, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to ask you something," Sadie said, plopping down in the chair across from the couch.

"What do you want to ask me?" Arthur asked, allowing his curiosity to get the best of him as he sat back down.

Sadie thought about her approach before starting with the simple part. "I had a run in with Nate."

"What'd he want?" Ariadne asked curiously, reminding Sadie that she too was in the room.

Sadie laughed before answering, "He wanted me to go to dinner with him tonight."

"He asked you to dinner?" Ariadne asked, trying to suppress a laugh of her own.

Sadie nodded. "He did. And no need to suppress a laugh. I pretty much laughed in his face when he asked me," Sadie told her honestly. "Which brings me to what I wanted to ask you," Sadie said, turning her attention fully back to Arthur. "I was wondering if there was any way you'd help me invade his dreams again."

"Why would you want to do that again?" Arthur questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Nate mentioned he wanted to tell me something and explain some things over dinner, but because I wouldn't say yes to going to dinner with him I won't know what it is he wanted to tell me."

"Why didn't you just go to dinner with him then?" Arthur asked, a hint of what sounded like jealousy in his voice.

Sadie didn't think anything of it, though, even though a big part of her told her to question it.

"Because it'd be awkward to go to dinner with my ex who I hate right now," Sadie answered. "Please, Arthur. Will you help me find out what he wants to tell me?"

"You do remember what happened last time, right?"

Sadie sighed. "It won't happen this time. I promise," Sadie assured him. "Please, Arthur. I really want to know what he wanted to tell me."

Arthur shook his head. "It's way too dangerous to let you go back again," Arthur told her pointedly. "This time we may not be so lucky."

"Arthur, please," Sadie said again in a pleading tone.

"No, sorry, I can't. I won't It's too dangerous," Arthur said again, shaking his head fervently.

Sadie sighed frustratedly, but didn't argue any longer. "Fine," she said through clenched teeth. "It was worth a shot to ask."

She'd just have to find another way to invade Nate's dreams on her own. If only she had a PASIV that she could use. But the only PASIV she knew of was the one that Arthur had. Now if only there was a way to get to it.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie put the key in the lock and turned it. Quietly, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open, tip toeing inside with the PASIV case in her hand. She closed the door behind her as easily as she could as to not make enough noise to draw attention to herself and then made her way to the bedroom.

Standing in the doorway and overlooking the entire room, she smiled seeing that Nate was already fast asleep. She quickly and cautiously set to work getting everything ready. The first time this happened she had watched Arthur very closely and memorized everything he did just in case a situation like this ever arose. She had a feeling at the time that it might, and that feeling had turned out to be right.

Sadie sighed as she sat down in the chair across from the bed. She knew she shouldn't be doing this alone. But she so badly wanted...no, she so badly _needed_ to know what Nate was going to tell her. She was hoping and praying that Nate would want to tell his projection of her since she hadn't let him tell her. She also knew that this was dangerous to be trying...knowing her luck Nate's projection of her would ruin everything.

She was well aware that she'd likely talk herself out of it if she sat there any longer weighing the pros and cons. So Sadie took a deep breath, set the time on the PASIV for about one minute in reality, which if her math was right would give her 12 minutes in the dream, and then pushed the button. She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes falling into a deep sleep.

Seconds later, her eyes fluttered open. Part of her really did know that this was wrong and that she was playing with fire. Anything could go wrong at any second and she'd only have herself to blame. But, of course, the other part of her overpowered that part of her and insisted she continue on with what she wanted to do. There was no turning back.

Sadie looked around and took in her surroundings. Her main task by doing that was to check and see if Nate's projection of her was anywhere around, but she didn't see her anywhere. Taking a deep breath, Sadie made her way over to where Nate was and sat down next to him.

Nate saw her and luckily for her he mistook her for her projection again. He wasted no time wallowing in the guilt of what he wanted to tell her over dinner before she turned him down. "She turned me down."

"Sorry to hear that," Sadie said, feigning sadness.

"I just wanted to make things right," Nate admitted. "Well, I mean, as right as I possibly can."

"How were you going to do that?" Sadie asked curiously.

Nate didn't say anything for a moment. But then turned to her and answered, "I was going to tell her that there are three guys here in Paris. They've been stalking her and watching her ever since the break up and they're waiting for the right time to take her."

Sadie kept up her calm and cool composure on the outside. On the inside, however, she was jumping out of her skin and heading for the hills. This was not happening. Maybe she would've been better off not knowing, after all.

"Don't you think you should've just come out and told her? I mean, this is huge and her life is at risk."

"She turned and left before I had the chance," Nate said.

Sadie didn't say anything back and Nate stayed quiet for what felt like an hour. But it was more like five minutes of silence in the dream world.

"I really didn't plan on any of this happening."

Sadie almost believed him completely. But it was truly hard to trust anything that came out of his mouth. She couldn't just forget that he had lied to her for the past two years.

"Umm...Sadie," Nate said, looking up at her for the first time during the entire dream so far.

"Yeah?" Sadie asked, turning her head and looking over at him.

"You're real aren't you?" he asked her, taking her by surprise.

Sadie raised an eyebrow. "Umm...I'm sorry, what?"

"You're the real you aren't you?" he asked again, rephrasing the question slightly.

Sadie gulped nervously. What would have brought that question on all of a sudden? "What kind of question is that?"

Nate nodded his head in the direction behind her.

Sadie looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. Of course, it'd be her luck that the projection of her would show up. She looked back at Nate who was looking at her with an angry look on his face. Then, she felt other gazes on her and looked around to see all of the other projections of Nate's subconscious looking at her.

"Umm...uhh...I've gotta go!" Sadie exclaimed, jumping up and pushing her way through the crowd of projections who were suddenly all against her.

Well this wasn't good. Sadie had no idea what she was doing honestly, but she continued to just randomly create new rooms and twists and turns in the dream. She was the dreamer, thankfully, and the projections were already on to her, so it didn't make no never mind that she was creating new things at a rapid pace. She was already as good as dream dead if the time didn't run out before they caught up to her.

Sadie looked back to see the projections gaining on her. There was no way she'd be able to outrun them all. There was only one of her and god only knows how many of them. It seemed like she had no other way out except to let them catch up to her and kill her. But just as she was about to let them get to her, she suddenly felt a hand grab her arm in a tight grip.

Sadie tensed up and immediately looked to see who had her in such a tight grasp. Her eyes widened and she was shocked to find that it was Arthur. And he didn't look happy _at all._ It was the most serious she'd ever seen him. To be honest, it kind of scared her.


	10. Going with Option Number One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; All Night Long by Demi Lovato
> 
> "Don't make plans  
> Come home with me, we'll stay up all night long  
> I want you, and I want you bad  
> Let's keep the party going all night long."
> 
> Sexytimes in this chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.

"In here," Arthur said, pushing open a door and pulling Sadie into a room that she must've created in the midst of all the chaos and her panic of trying to get away.

Instinctively, Sadie shut the door and locked it behind them.

Arthur let go of her arm and turned around to face her. The scowl on his face still there from before. "I thought I told you it was too dangerous to do this again," he hissed, seething with anger.

Sadie nodded her head in response almost robotically. "You did."

"Then why did you do it anyway?" he asked, taking a step closer to her.

Sadie adverted her eyes and answered quietly, "Because I wanted to know what he wanted to tell me."

"Was it worth it?" Arthur asked as the room was suddenly filled with the sound of pounding coming from the other side of the door.

Sadie looked behind her at the door and then back to Arthur shaking her head no. "Not really," she said, deciding to keep the truth from him for now.

"How'd you even get the PASIV?" Arthur asked curiously his anger softening slightly, but still very evident.

"I broke into your apartment to get it," Sadie admitted and immediately felt a small sense of guilt about doing it.

Arthur shook his head. "I figured that much when I realized it was missing."

"Sorry," Sadie offered.

"I'm sure you are," Arthur murmured under his breath.

"I heard that!" Sadie exclaimed slightly offended, not sure if she liked this side of Arthur much.

"Maybe you were meant to," Arthur told her point blank, stepping closer to her until she could feel his breath on her face.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something, but closed it immediately when she suddenly felt an all too familiar sensation in between her legs. She may not know if she liked this side of Arthur much, but her lower lady part sure did. His angry side was turning her on. Maybe a little too much.

Sadie was quickly, and partly thankfully, brought back to the reality of the dream by the pounding still coming from the other side of the door.

"We don't have long before they most likely get in," Arthur told her.

Sadie nodded in understanding. "What should we do?"

"We have three options," Arthur replied. "One, we can hope they don't break the door down and wait for the timer to run out. Two, I can kill you and then kill myself. Or three, we can wait until the projections come in and kill us both."

"Umm...I don't know. I set the timer for a minute, but it's only been like maybe eight so far, so that would mean there's still four minutes dream time. But I kind of don't want to die so I don't really like options two or three. So therefore, I think we're at an impasse," Sadie said, weighing the options.

"You mean you are at an impasse. I'm not, " Arthur pointed out. "Quite frankly, at this point I'd prefer two," Arthur admitted, allowing his anger at being decieved by Sadie get the best of him.

The sensation between Sadie's legs grew at the thought of him being angry enough to want to kill her. It was only a dream so instead of scaring her the idea turned her on even more. After all, she'd already figured out that angry Arthur turned her on more than he probably should.

"Let's go with option one," Sadie said as she allowed the feeling between her legs to make up her mind for her.

"What would we do for four more minutes?" Arthur asked, looking at her with a clueless expression on his face. "I mean given that the projections don't get in before the timer runs out."

The clueless look on his face made her feel even more mischeivious, like she was planning on corrupting someone of their innocence, which surely was not the case here. If she had to guess, she'd assume that he had bedded more woman in the past than he'd ever admit. He was a very good looking man.

Instead of answering him with words, Sadie took Arthur by surprise when she forcefully grabbed his head and brought him towards her so she could kiss him. She was frantic in her actions, dead set on somehow satisfying the sensation between her legs. She needed touch right then and there. Most importantly she needed Arthur's touch right then and there. She was throwing all caution to the wind and giving it a shot.

Sadie momentarily thought back to the day before. She made a mental note to thank Eames for talking her into acting on her feelings for Arthur so she wouldn't regret them if she never got the chance to act on them again. He would surely be pleased with himself. And quite frankly he should be because this night was just getting started.

She was quickly stolen from her thoughts by Arthur surprisingly kissing her back. Arthur's lips moved to her neck as his hands cupped her ass, hoisting her up. Sadie gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist. She was shocked when her back suddenly hit the wall with such force that she broke the kiss to let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"Oh god!" she moaned as his lips found her pulse point, sucking on it fervently.

The action caused the butterfly feeling low in her stomach.

Impatiently, Sadie's hands found their way to the coat he was wearing over his clothes and she frantically pushed it off. With that out of the way she moved to the buttons on his shirt, taking them apart one by one until she finally managed to rid him of the shirt completely. Sadie appreciatively ran her hand up and down his slightly toned abs and chest, moaning appreciatively.

Sadie grabbed Arthur by the back of the head and pulled him up to connect their lips again. "I need...not much time left...just, please...something...anything," Sadie pleaded between kisses.

"This? Here?" he asked, smirking slightly against her lips as his hand found it's way between her legs making her shiver at his touch with anticipation.

Sadie nodded frantically, gasping, "Yes, that. There."

"You're so wet," Arthur groaned, loving the fact that she was wet because of him and only him.

Almost as if she was reading his mind, Sadie moaned, "Just for you."

Arthur smirked as he pulled back to watch the expression on Sadie's face as he slipped a finger past her panties and slid it into her with ease.

"Arthur!" Sadie called out at the sudden pleasure.

Arthur moved his finger in and out of her at an agonizingly slow pace, loving the way Sadie squirmed against him.

"Another...more...please," Sadie begged, panting like a female dog in heat.

Arthur complied and added another just like Sadie wanted. He moved both fingers in and out of her at a more frantic pace than before. Sadie moaned at the feeling meeting every thrust of his fingers with a quick thrust of her hips.

"Arthur, I need you inside me," Sadie declared moments later, his fingers suddenly not enough for her.

Arthur shook his head no.

Sadie groaned in frustration.

"Save it for reality," he told her, adding a third finger to ease her frustration a bit.

"Fine," Sadie sighed, adjusting to the feel of three of his fingers fucking her instead of two. "But I'm not going to be alone in this frustration." Sadie grinned michieviously as her hands were suddenly working on the button on his pants, which was undone in seconds.

After that Sadie worked on unzipping the zipper and once it was down she slid her small hand past his pants and into his boxers grabbing hold of half erect cock. She basked in the glory of the moan she elicited from him. She started moving her hand around him in tune with the thrusts of his fingers inside her. They quickly set up a rhythm that worked for them both.

Then just like that it all stopped.

**~TheMiddle~**

Sadie gasped for air as her eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was Nate still asleep on the bed in front of her. It was definitely a good thing that she gave him the amount of sedative that she did. Then she looked over and saw Arthur sitting on the floor, propped up against the bed. He was looking up at her with lust filled eyes that more than likely matched her own.

Frantically, she pulled the IV from her arm, wrapping it up quickly and placing it in the case with the PASIV. Then she yanked Nate's out and wrapped it up as well, putting it away. Seconds later, Arthur was slamming the case shut and locking it. Sadie wanted nothing more than to jump him right then and there. But that wouldn't be wise given where they currently were.

Sadie grabbed Arthur's free hand and pulled him out of the bedroom and out of the apartment, letting the door slam behind them. Nate was knocked out cold until the sedative wore off. Plus he obviously already knew probably more about what was going on than he would like for anyone to believe, so it's not like she had to sneak around anymore.

Once in the hall, Sadie took Arthur by surprise yet again when she pushed him up against the wall and kissed him just as frantically as she had in the dream.

"Your place," she said against his lips.

He nodded as they pulled away much to both of their dismays.

"Now," she added, pulling him after her as she quickly made her way down the hall towards the elevators.

**~TheMiddle~**

How they managed exactly to get back to Arthur's apartment was beyond both Arthur and Sadie. The only thing on either of their minds was each other, and nothing else mattered, which would very much explain the three or four stops into abandoned alleys on their way. The tension was too much to bare the whole way back.

They entered the apartment in a tangled mess of limbs, letting the door slam shut behind them. The dream and their stops on the way back were their foreplay and now it was just about getting straight to the point. There was always later for them to take it slow. But now just wasn't meant to be taken slowly at all.

Sadie's back hit the door with the same amount of force that it had earlier in the dream. She moaned at the memory as well as the fact that it was happening all over again now. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him closer to her. As close as she could possibly get him without him being inside her.

"Need you inside me now," she moaned, arching into him feeling him through her soaked panties and moaning even more.

"Bed," he groaned, starting to back up.

Sadie shook her head. "No, right here," she told him as she wasted no time to reach her hands down working on the button and zipper of Arthur's pants. In seconds, she was pushing his pants and boxers down to his knees at once. "Right now."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but Sadie silenced him pulling him into a searing kiss.

"Alright, here works just as well," Arthur spoke against her lips, pushing her dress up and sliding her panties to the side.

Suddenly, Arthur pulled back.

Sadie groaned in frustration. "What the...?" she started to ask.

"What about...?"

Sadie knew what he was going to ask without him evening needing to finish. "There's no need," she assured him connecting their lips once again.

"Are you on the pill?" he asked.

"Not exactly."

He pulled back and gave her a questioning look.

"I'll explain later," she told him. "But, for now...I really need you inside me. So, shut up and just put it in already," Sadie demanded getting very frustrated and impatient.

Arthur wanted to argue, but he was just as impatient as she was. Without any warning, his hand was back in between Sadie's legs pushing her panties to the side and slipping two fingers inside her, moving in and out at a frantic pace, stretching her and getting her ready for him.

Sadie was putty in his hands, moaning uncontrollably and arching into his fingers, meeting them thrust for thrust. Sadie groaned when he suddenly took them out, but then gasped as she felt his tip at her entrance.

"Oh gosh! Now!" Sadie exclaimed, her hands going behind him to grab his ass and pull him into her more.

Arthur obliged and thrust into her, burying himself in her to the hilt, grunting at the feeling of being completely inside her.

Sadie gasped and moaned, arching into him.

"Oh fuck! Please, move!" Sadie ordered, thrashing her hips against his over and over again begging and pleading for more.

Arthur pulled out almost all the way and before Sadie could even think of protesting he slammed back into her once again burying himself in her to the hilt. He began repeating his actions over and over again elliciting sounds from Sadie that she didn't even know were possible for one to make.

Arthur's lips were suddenly pressed against hers, and he was running his tongue back and forth along her lower lip begging for entrance. Sadie granted him entrance quickly. Their tongues were in a war for dominance which he easily won with another particularly rough snap of his hips as well as his thumb finding it's way to her clit, rubbing it at a rough pace that matched his thrusts.

"Harder! Faster!" Sadie begged against his lips, refusing to pull away as she felt herself approaching her orgasm.

If it was even possible, he did exactly that. Now he was moving at such a rapid pace that with each thrust Sadie was hitting the door with loud thud after loud thud. The neighbors were sure to have complaints about that one. Not wanting to disturb the peace anymore than it already had been, Sadie looked behind Arthur to make sure their wasn't anything in the way, and then pushed herself off the door, sending both of them tumbling down to the floor.

The sound of Arthur's back hitting the floor was extremely loud. Based on the sound that accompanied the impact, Sadie wondered if it hurt. But, if it did, then he was surely putting up an act because he didn't show any signs of pain. Instead, Arthur grabbed her by the back of the head, pulling her down to reconnect their lips yet again.

Sadie grinned mischieviously against his lips befor pulling back and sitting up so that she was straddling him. She looked down at him, the grin growing on her face. Then, she braced herself with her hands on his chest and lifted up only to roughly drop back down. A moan escaped both of their throats. Sadie repeated the action a few more times as Arthur's thumb found her clit again, rubbing at the pace of their thrusts.

All it took was a few more thrusts from Arthur and they were both coming, screaming each others names.

Sadie pulled off of him and rolled over collapsing next to him on the floor.

"Oh my damn! That was...wow!" Sadie breathed out.

"Wow, indeed," Arthur agreed, smirking at her.

They laid there in silence for a few minutes basking in the after glow.

Sadie suddenly laughed breaking the comfortable silence.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned his head to look at her.

"I was just thinking..." Sadie started but trailed off as she laughed some more.

"Thinking about what?"

"I told you I'd personally drag you away from being so professional all the time. And, after your performance tonight, I'd say I did just that because there was nothing professional about you," Sadie laughed.

"Oh, you little minx."

"I always get my way," Sadie told him with a smile.

"Oh, I'm sure you do." Arthur laughed at her.

Sadie nodded and stood up. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, laughing again.

"What is it this time?" Arthur asked looking up at her.

"We didn't even undress." Sadie chuckled, looking down to see she was still in all of her clothes and so was Arthur with his pants and boxers around his knees. "Definitely not professional."

Arthur couldn't help but laugh, too.

"So, how about we undress and go for round two?" Sadie asked suggestively as she was already pulling her dress up and over her head throwing it to the floor.

**~TheMiddle~**

Arthur pulled out and collapsed next to Sadie on the bed. They were both out of breath and exhausted. Sadie cuddled up to Arthur, laying her head on his chest and sighed a sigh of content.

"You never did explain to me what you meant earlier when I asked you whether you were taking birth control or not," Arthur said once he regained his voice.

Sadie took in a deep breath and sat up quickly, avoiding looking at him.

"You don't have to explain it to me now if you don't want to," Arthur told her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

"No, it's fine," Sadie said trying not to sound like she was about to cry, even though she was.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked, sitting up when he heard the change in her voice.

Sadie nodded blinking back tears. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just..."

"It's okay, Sadie."

Sadie bit her lip and looked back at Arthur. "A couple years ago, I was in an accident, and as a result of that accident I can't have kids. So, really condoms and birth control aren't exactly neccessary," Sadie explained, laughing through the few tears that managed to fall from her eyes. "Add that to the list of things going wrong in my life."

"Sadie..." Arthur started, but Sadie cut him off.

"If you're gonna say sorry...please don't. I appreciate it, but I've learned to come to terms with it. It's just easier without pity from everybody who knows it. It's just a fact of my life." Sadie sighed, blinking back more tears. "I always get difficult situations to overcome. First that, and now the whole thing with my dad stealing that program. But I'd rather not complain because it's not the worst that anyone's ever had to go through."

"Come here," Arthur said soothingly, pulling her to him and laying down.

Sadie layed her head on his chest resuming her position from the minute before.

"It'll all be fine," Arthur assured her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

A small smile appeared on Sadie's face as she closed her eyes, allowing sleep to overcome her. She really did believe him.


	11. There is More Than Meets the Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; When It All Falls Apart by The Veronicas
> 
> "Can it be easier?  
> Can I just change my life?  
> 'Cause it just seems to go bad everytime."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.

Sadie woke up the next morning to the feeling of a finger tracing the tattoo on her back and kisses being pressed against her neck and shoulder. She smiled at the thought of how much of a romantic Arthur was. It had been a very long time, if ever, since she was woken up in such a way. She couldn't recall a single time of the top of her head that Nate had never woken her up like this, even when they were actually going strong. It was just another thing that made Arthur so much better than him.

Rolling over, Sadie looked up at Arthur with a smile on her face. "Morning," she said, her voice still thick with sleep.

Smiling back at her, he replied, "Morning to you, too."

"What smells so good?" Sadie asked as she suddenly caught a whiff of a tasty aroma.

"Breakfast," Arthur answered, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

Pleasantly surprised and shocked, Sadie asked in disbelief, "You made me breakfast?"

Arthur nodded. "What? Nate never did anything like this for you?"

Sadie shook her head no. Arthur was quickly showing Sadie just how much she actually gained since leaving Nate.

"Well then, he obviously doesn't know the proper way to treat his girlfriend."

Sadie's eyes widened at hearing Arthur say the word _girlfriend_. Whoa. Where had that come from?

"Girlfriend?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Arthur shrugged his shoulder and nodded his head. "If you want to be, of course," he told her seconds later.

Sadie grinned, grabbing him and pulling him into a passionate kiss. "I would love to be your girlfriend." She smiled against his lips. "But, with your professional self being in control nine times out of ten, wouldn't having a girlfriend pose a problem?" Sadie pulled away from him and asked teasingly.

"I will find a way to balance both," Arthur answered sincerely. "After all, you're worth it," he added in an assuring tone that had Sadie believing him without a doubt.

"Aw, I'm worth it," Sadie said blushingly and turning a crimson red in the face. You're such a romantic."

"Yes, I suppose I am," he agreed, chuckling.

There was a moment of silence between them as they just laid there staring into each others eyes in a content bliss.

"I know this isn't the right time to ask, but I never had the chance to ask you last night if you found out anything new from Nate?" Arthur asked, breaking the silence as he repositioned himself so that he was sitting up on the bed next to her.

Sadie rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement as she replied, "You're right this isn't the right time to ask."

"Better to just get it out of the way."

"Next up we need to work on your timing," Sadie said, trying to say or do anything to keep from having to face what she had learned the night before. She wasn't ready for her happiness to be ruined just yet.

"Sadie..." Arthur started to say.

Sadie cut him off. "I didn't learn anything new. My suspicion ended up being completely wrong, "Sadie insisted. "However, you certainly can't argue with the results. So there was in fact a method to my madness last night."

Arthur thought over her words before agreeing with her. "That is true."

"You know, Arthur...if you like the tattoo on my back so much...I do have a few others you may want to check out." Sadie smirked at him, changing the subject as quickly as she could before he could ask her anymore about the night before. She knew she wouldn't be able to refrain from telling him the truth if they continued on the subject any longer. Leaning up so that her mouth was level to his ear, she whispered, "One of which is in a much lower, more secret, intimate place."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Arthur asked teasingly, raising a quizzical eyebrow in false curiosity.

Sadie bit her lower lip and nodded.

"But what about breakfast?"

"I'm sure it can wait," she said, laying back on the bed and pulling him down on top of her.

**~themiddle~**

A few hours later, Sadie was walking home through the semi crowded Paris streets from Arthur's. She had insisted that she didn't need Arthur to act as a body guard and walk her home, even though he assured her he didn't mind doing it if she wanted him to. Her pride was too big for her to cave and let him despite a part of her actually liking the idea of him walking her home.

Sadie was walking past an alley when suddenly Nate walked out of it and stood in front of her, bringing her to a complete stop as she ran into him. She looked up at him and glared. The look on his face was a mix between a glare and a scowl, he was clearly not at all happy. Not that Sadie cared. He was probably mad about what had happened the night before. But again, Sadie didn't care.

Sadie was about to say something to him when he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the alley with him. The next thing she knew, before she could even react, Nate pushed her and her back painfully connected with the cold brick wall behind her. She winced at the pain and stepped away from the wall, unintentionally moving closer to Nate.

"What the hell are you doing, Nate?" Sadie asked angrily when she was able to find her voice to speak.

"What the hell am I doing? What the hell am I doing, Sadie?" Nate shot back just as angrily as he pressed her back into the wall. "The real question is what the hell were you doing last night in my dream?"

"I had to find out the truth somehow!" Sadie exclaimed, shoving him away from her.

"And you figured invading my dream was the way to do it?" Nate asked her, regaining his composure from the push almost instantly.

Sadie shrugged her shoulders as she answered, "Well obviously you weren't going to tell me in reality. So if invading your dream was the way to do it then yes, that's exactly the way."

"You didn't ask," Nate said.

Sadie couldn't help but laugh a little at him saying that. "Seriously, Nate? Is the fact that there are three guys who want to kidnap me and demand answers from me that I have no freaking clue about really something that I should have to ask you to find out about?" she asked in disbelief. "Especially considering said guys are probably willing to do just about anything to me to get those answers...which again, I don't have."

Nate ignored her and said, "All you had to do was ask."

Sadie laughed again. "Umm...the last time I asked about this situation you ended up giving me a black eye," she reminded him, looking at him as if he had some sort of memory loss.

"That was different," Nate told her through clenched teeth.

"Don't clench your teeth at me! And really, that was different? How was that different? Please do tell. How was that any different than what you would've done had I asked you what else you were hiding from me? Please, I really want to know."

Nate didn't reply.

Sadie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought," she said, turning to walk out of the alley.

Nate grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You are just as much at fault here as I am."

Sadie spun around in an instant, her jaw dropped and her eyes wide. "I'm at fault? Really, Nate? I'm at fault? Fault over what?"

"You lied to me, too. You kept secrets from me as well," Nate told her.

Sadie didn't say anything back, Instead she just gave him a look that basically told him to keep talking.

"Last night wasn't the first and only time you invaded my dreams," Nate confessed to knowing.

"Well, when you put it that way...it seems that we're both liars," Sadie said, but then added, "Except I lied to find something out to save my life. You lied to ruin my life. There's a difference."

"I know all about the dream sharing business," Nate admitted moments later, ignoring what she had just said to him. "And I know you somehow got involved in it."

"How do you know about it?" Sadie asked curiously.

Nate shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter," he answered.

Sadie shook her head and sighed in annoyance. "I'm leaving," Sadie told him, turning to leave again.

"Watch your back, Sadie!" Nate called after her.

Sadie stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"Next time you get pulled into an alley or you answer the door without seeing who it is first or something else...it more than likely won't be me," Nate told her.

"Whatever, Nate," Sadie muttered before finally leaving the alley, heading home to change before going back to talk to Arthur.

**~themiddle~**

After going home and changing into something more suitable and comfortable for the daytime, Sadie found herself guiltily back at Arthur's, knocking on the door.

"I lied to you earlier," Sadie admitted to him, avoiding eye contact as soon as he opened the door.

"About what?" Arthur asked, his voice lined with a hint of confusion and concern while he stepped aside to let her in.

Sadie thought for a moment about how she should answer and then as she walked into the apartment and turned back around to face him answered, "I told you earlier that I hadn't found out anything new from Nate when actually I had."

"What'd you find out?"

Sadie swallowed the lump in her throat and filled him in on what she had found out. "He said that there are three guys hiding out around town waiting for the right time to..."

"Sadie..."

"I'm sure that you can fill in the rest," Sadie said quietly, biting her lower lip nervously.

"What made you tell me?" Arthur asked curiously.

Sadie looked up at him. "I ran into Nate on my way home earlier."

"Again?"

"I almost think that I should be more worried about and afraid of him than I should whoever else is after me," Sadie answered with a nod of her head. "Oh, and also, apparently Nate knows about the dream share business."

"He knows?" Arthur questioned out of surprise. "How?"

"My thoughts exactly. He refused to tell me much of anything," Sadie said with an annoyed sigh. "As it turns out he was keeping more than I originally thought from me."

"It seems that I'm not going to be able to let you out of my sight anymore."

Sadie sensed a bit of overprotectiveness but could tell that Arthur was trying to hide it. Most likely for her own sake because he knew she didn't like to feel like she was weak. Therefore, she let it slide and didn't question it.

Sadie laughed briefly and asked, "Is this your professional or personal side talking?"

"A little bit of both," he answered honestly, pulling her closer to him.

"Well, you did say earlier that you were going to do your best to balance them," Sadie said, smiling as she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his chest.

"I did say that." Arthur grinned. "And I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it so far if I do say so myself."

Sadie nodded, pulling away and taking a step back. "So I was wondering if you had any plans for the next few hours because Ariadne's not gonna be home for a few hours. And I'm kind of feeling iffy about going home and being alone for so long," Sadie confessed. "I was thinking maybe you could come over until she gets back."

A frown came over Arthur's facial features. "I do have something to do," Arthur told her.

"Oh, okay," she replied, trying to hide the hint of disappointment in her voice. "That's fine," Sadie said nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Why don't you just stay here?" Arthur asked.

"I have some things to do around the apartment," Sadie answered.

"I could call Eames and have him go over and keep you company," Arthur suggested.

Sadie thought for a moment before asking, "Would he actually be willing to keep me company somewhere that isn't a bar?"

"There's more to him than meets the eye," Arthur said and the sudden expression that took over his face made Sadie believe that he hadn't meant to say that.

Sadie raised an eyebrow and questioned curiously, "How would you know that if you spend most of the time bantering with each other?"

Arthur shrugged and suddenly switched around the direction of the subject. "Umm, so should I call Eames or not?"

Sadie shook her head up and down as she responded, "Yeah, sure."

**~themiddle~**

Sadie wasn't the least bit surprised to find Eames already there waiting by her apartment building door when she got home. She walked to the building door in silence and unlocked it, pushing the door open and stepping inside holding the door open for Eames. She was just waiting for whatever Eames was going to say. The whole way home she had prepared herself for any and everything he could possibly say to her.

"I'm surprised that you didn't pick your way into the apartment," Sadie said in all honesty when the silence became too much for her.

"Eh, I figured I'd do something legal for a change," Eames replied from behind her.

"Well, that's a definite first." Sadie laughed. "At least since I met you it is."

Eames laughed as well as he followed her up the stairs.

"Somebody looks happier than usual today." Eames said, the smirk was evident in his voice even without her looking at him. "You seem to be glowing,"

"Your point being, Eames?" Sadie asked, avoiding looking at him to hide the blush currently staining her cheeks and instead focusing on unlocking the apartment door and opening it.

"You know exactly what my point is, love." Eames grinned. "You're glowing and happier and over the phone Arthur sounded happier and less professional than usual," Eames told her. making a beeline for the couch.

"You want something to drink?" Sadie asked, closing and locking the door before making her way into the kitchen.

"Love, are you trying to change the subject?" Eames wondered, smirking at her.

Sadie looked at him and glared briefly. "Do you want something to drink or not?" she asked again.

"No, but thank you for the offer."

"Oh, please let there be some Peach Schnapps here somewhere," Sadie said to herself, turning around and beginning her search for alcohol in the fridge and cabinets.

Do you care to fill me in on the events of last night?" Eames asked, refusing to let the subject go.

"No, no, and no," Sadie said, finding the bottle of Peach Schnapps and unscrewing the top, drinking straight from the bottle. "I'm already regretting agreeing to let you keep me company." Sadie frowned as she made her way into the living room, Schnapps bottle in hand, and plopped down in the arm chair adjacent to the couch and Eames. "Change the subject," Sadie said.

"Okay, I get it. You're not willing to tell me about it. Showing is more your thing," Eames smirked at her, referring back to the kiss from a few days before.

Sadie's eyes widened and she took another sip from the bottle. "Oh god! I knew that'd come back to haunt me. I just didn't think it'd be this soon," she groaned, sinking down into the chair.

"What? Are you not up for it this time?" he asked, noticing Sadie's reaction.

If this had been a different guy and different situation, Sadie would've answered with a no right away. But instead, this time, something made her think about it.

When Sadie didn't answer right away, Eames laughed. "You're thinking about it, Sadie?"

Sadie looked anywhere but at Eames and couldn't find the words to speak. This was definitely some sort of current hell. Why in the hell did she even have to think about it? There wasn't any reason to think about it. Right?

**~themiddle~**

Much to Sadie's relief and happiness, Ariadne returned from her classes an hour or so later. Thankfully that meant that Sadie didn't end up having to avoid Eames' questions or questioning looks for too terribly long. But it certainly wasn't going to be the end of the subject. Sadie still wondered what was going on with her and why she was acting the way she was acting.

"Well now that you're here," Eames began, looking at Ariadne. "I have something to do tonight, therefore I should get going," he finished,  standing up.

"Is that your way of saying you have a date?" Sadie asked, shocking herself as well as Eames and Ariadne.

"Possibly," he answered simply, giving a curious glance in her direction.

"Is that the woman from the bar from a few weeks ago or a new one?" Sadie then found herself asking before she could stop herself.

Sadie couldn't understand why she asked the question. It just came to her and she went with it without thinking about it first. Why the hell did she even care who the woman was? It's not like she and Eames had something going on. After all, she was with Arthur now and she and Eames were just friends...or whatever they were. She was sure she didn't even like Eames like that. Right?

Ariadne looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a shocked expression on her face.

So Sadie wasn't the only one surprised by the question she had just asked. Well that was a bit of a relief.

"Does it matter?" Eames asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, no it doesn't," Sadie answered quickly, shaking her head side to side frantically. "Have fun," she said quickly before hightailing it to her room to avoid questions from Ariadne once Eames left.

Cause' quite frankly, Sadie wasn't even sure she had answers to anyone's questions. Including her own. Although, she was definitely going to blame the whole situation on the alcohol...even though, it was obvious that it was a complete and total lie. She hadn't drank that much this time.


	12. Oh How The Tables Can Turn So Fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Too Emotional by Vanessa Hudgens
> 
> "When you came to me  
> I thought you’d be like every other guy that I’d ever met  
> We’d hang for a while then I’d soon forget you  
> But this is something new  
> I was not prepared to wonder where you are when you’re not with me  
> This feels so crazy."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

A few weeks had passed since Sadie's run in with Nate and her startling revelation of something not being right with her when it came to Eames. It hadn't taken her more than a day or two after to realize why she was acting the way she was acting. It wasn't the alcohol's fault like she wished she could use as her excuse. It was more than that, and to be honest it really scared her.

It scared her to the point of turning herself into a human recluse. She avoided leaving the apartment or doing anything that meant she'd need to have any contact whatsoever with either Arthur or Eames; that is unless she had absolutely no choice but to, which happened more often than she would have liked it to. She couldn't be near Arthur for too long without guilt over what she was feeling for Eames sending her into panic mode. And she couldn't be near Eames out of fear that even more feelings for him would reveal themselves and make the already difficult situation even more difficult.

But unfortunately she couldn't hide from her feelings forever. Especially not with Arthur suddenly standing there right in front of her demanding an explanation as to why she was acting so weird lately. Her other problems suddenly weren't as bad anymore. She almost wouldn't mind if her other problems would take her away and help her avoid facing this one head on.

"You've been avoiding me?" Arthur spoke, his words coming out as more of a question than a statement, as she opened the door to find him leaning against the door frame.

"No, I haven't," Sadie lied straight through her teeth, tightening her grip on the door handle and looking anywhere but at him as if to hide the guilty look in her eyes from him...not that she was fooling either of them to begin with.

"Yes, you have," Arthur told her, refusing to let her sneak past the subject. "Don't try to pretend like there's not something going on."

Sadie turned and walked into the living room, muttering along the way, "It's not just you."

"Not just me?" he asked walking inside and closing the door behind him.

Ever so slowly, Sadie turned around whispering, "Eames, too."

She knew the guilt in her voice and the guilty look on her face were more than evident when Arthur walked over to her.

"What about Eames, too?" Arthur questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I have been avoiding both of you," Sadie admitted nervously, biting her lower lip.

A confused look found it's way onto Arthur's face as he asked, "Why both of us?"

Sadie shrugged her shoulders as she tried to think of some way to avoid the truth longer. She looked at the ground and nervously started tapping her foot on the floor.

"Sadie, what aren't you telling me?" Arthur asked, cupping her face in his hands and making her look at him.

"Please do not make me tell you,: Sadie pleaded with him. "It'll ruin everything."

"It can't be as bad as you think it is."

"Oh, it is."

"How about you tell me and let me be the judge of it?" Arthur asked suggestively, dropping his hands away from her face.

Sadie contemplated his suggestion before deciding to go for it. Now was as good a time as there'd ever be.

"Well I...lately, I've...I, umm...I..." Sadie tried to get the words out but only one or two words managed to come out at a time. Nothing she could think of saying sounded good. All the word possibilities seemed to lead to no where good the more she thought the statements she was thinking through.

"Sadie, you know you can tell me anything," Arthur said soothingly, rubbing her arms, trying to make her feel better and coax her into saying what she was trying to say.

"I...I've been having these...umm...these strange feelings lately...for Eames...or I guess just strange feelings when he's around in general," Sadie finally forced out.

Sadie was sure that Arthur would be mad, but she ended up being surprised when instead he just simply asked her, "What kind of feelings?"

Through her confusion, she answered, "Umm, well...at one point before we got together it was jealousy and lust and then the day after we got together it was jealousy again..."

"Not surprising."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sadie asked, still trying to figure out why Arthur wasn't freaking out like someone in a situation like this would usually react.

Arthur shook his head. "Nothing. I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Why aren't you acting like a normal guy would if his girlfriend were to admit to having feelings for another guy?"

Arthur ignored her question and instead only caused her more confusion with what he suggested she do next. "You should go talk to Eames and see if your feelings for him are more or less what you think they are."

"Look who's suddenly hiding something from the other one now," Sadie said, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

"I'm not hiding anything," Arthur assured her. "There are just some things that are better left in the past."

"Like what?"

Arthur shrugged. "Just things."

"Arthur..." Sadie started to say.

Arthur cut her off. "I'm sure he's not far from here," he said to her. "I can call him if you want me to."

"You want me to talk to him now?" Sadie asked, her eyes widening.

Arthur nodded his head. "It's better to figure it out sooner rather than later." Then he pointed out, "It's also not fair to any of us not to know where we all stand."

"But..." Sadie began to protest.

"Don't you want to be able to leave the apartment?" Arthur asked her.

Sadie shook her head up and down vigorously. "That'd be nice after being cooped up in here for a week or two trying to avoid you."

"Then you can leave the apartment and go talk to Eames," Arthur said with a smile. "You know, kill two birds with one stone."

"Oh, you ass!" Sadie exclaimed, punching him half-heartedly in the arm. "You tricked me into that!"

"Ow! Careful there!" Arthur told her, reaching up to hold onto his arm where she'd just punched him. "You punch like a guy, you know."

Sadie laughed. "I do know now. And sadly for you, that was only a half-hearted punch. Just imagine what a true punch from me would feel like."

Arthur thought for a moment and then shook his head, "I'd rather not."

"Good choice," Sadie said with a smile.

"Should I call Eames for you and let him know you're coming to talk to him?"

Sadie shook her head and answered with a sigh, "There's no need. I'm sure he's at a bar nearby. I'll just go bar hopping to find him. It'll give me some time to think through how I'm gonna approach him with the information."

"Alright."

"I swear if talking to him about this backfires, Arthur..."

"I'll already be halfway out of town," Arthur joked.

"You mean all the way out of town. Halfway wouldn't even begin to cut it."

"Duly noted."

**~themiddle~**

Sadie walked into the bar, looking around nervously for Eames. Why had she let Arthur convince her to talk to him about her feelings? She was moments from jumping right out of her skin, if that were possible. This was not how she wanted to spend the day. But it did beat staying cooped up in the apartment for the whole day again.

She froze immediately when she spotted Eames sitting at the bar. Oh god! This was it. There would be no turning back once she approached the bar and he knew she was there. She could always turn back now and run. But what good would running now do? She'd just be stuck tormenting herself, Arthur and even Eames with her maybe real or maybe not real feelings still. She couldn't turn back now. Not when she'd already gotten this far.

Taking a deep breath, Sadie managed to gain up enough courage to walk over and sit down next to him. There was definitely no turning back now. Not even if she truly wanted to, which she did. She ordered herself a drink and once the bartender placed it in front of her she took a sip. Then and only then did she have enough courage to turn and say something to him. Well try to say something. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

"You're not avoiding me anymore?" Eames asked her when she couldn't seem to say anything.

Sadie shook her head. "No, I'm not," she answered, looking at him.

"So you were avoiding me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't feel bad," she replied, "I was avoiding Arthur, too."

"I don't."

"Good because you shouldn't."

"And I don't."

An awkward feeling silence fell between them then.

Sadie took another sip of her drink. "So, I...we need to talk about something big," she spoke up, using liquid courage as her reason for doing so.

"About what?" he asked, turning his head to look over at her.

Sadie bit her lower lip and didn't know what to say. Originally she was suppose to think about what she was going to say on her way there, but she was too busy thinking about what if everything went wrong. Even though now she was realizing that not knowing what to say was probably worse than anything that could've happened had she actually known what she'd say to him.

"I don't know how to bring it up without it being taken the wrong way," Sadie admitted, tapping her fingers nervously against the bar.

"Whatever happened to the always blunt Sadie?"

Sadie shrugged. "Apparently she's hiding away because of what I'm suppose to talk to you about."

"That doesn't seem like you at all."

Sadie laughed. "Yeah, well...it seems that you underestimate how much of a coward I can be when it comes to certain things then. Which is actually probably why I act on certain things instead of saying them whenever I can," she nervously rambled on.

"Like the kiss?" Eames asked with a smirk.

Sadie nodded her head but didn't speak; she was too afraid of saying something she shouldn't.

"Is whatever you need to talk to me about now something you can show me?"

Sadie's eyes widened at his question. As a matter of fact, it was. But there was no way she could do that. "Actually, it is...but I can't and won't do it."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't cheat," Sadie answered before she could even think her answer over.

"You don't cheat?"

"You know what? Nevermind," she said as panic suddenly took over her. "Pretend I never even mentioned anything at all. Just forget it," Sadie said silently beating herself up for her very poor choice of words.

Eames opened his mouth to say something and Sadie's breath caught in her throat. She hoped he wouldn't say anything because she really didn't want to continue the conversation. Even if she should've...she was becoming a coward. But then she sighed a sigh of relief when he closed his mouth and didn't say anything.

Oh yes. She was definitely a coward right now.

**~themiddle~**

It was about 4:00 in the afternoon when Sadie returned home. She collapsed on the couch and just seconds later heard a faint knock at the apartment door. She sighed as she stood up from the couch and walked over to the door opening it without finding out who it was first. That turned out to be a stupid move on her part. By time she realized her mistake she was already staring at the fast moving butt of a gun coming at her face and then suddenly everything went black.

Well Nate had warned her. The one thing he had done right.

**~themiddle~**

It was a quarter past five when Ariadne got home. She froze at the top of the stairs when she saw that the apartment door was partially open. That was definitely weird. Sadie never left the door open or even unlocked for that matter, especially not when she was home alone. Not since all of the weird occurences and Sadie's fear for her life had begun.

Ariadne cautiously walked towards the open door. Peaking inside she didn't see anything else out of the ordinary, so she walked in slowly. Right away, she heard a noise from below her and looked down to see what made it. Her eyes widened when she bent down and realized she had stepped on a phone that looked a lot like Sadie's phone. The phone that Sadie _never_ went anywhere without.

It wasn't hard for her to put two and two together after that. The door being wide open, Sadie not being there, and Sadie's phone being there on the floor. Freaking out and already on the verge of tears, Ariadne dropped her things and grabbed the phone from the kitchen counter, pressing the speed dial which just so happened to be Arthur's number.

Ariadne exclaimed through tears as soon as he answered the phone, "Sadie's gone! I think they've taken her!"

Not that she or even Arthur had even the slightest clue who they really were. There hadn't exactly been much to go on to figure out who they were. Not even for someone as good at his job as Arthur. A fact that only freaked them all out that much more. God only knew what they were capable of doing to Sadie in order to get what they wanted out of her.


	13. Never Give Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Skyscraper by Demi Lovato
> 
> "As the smoke clears, I awaken  
> And untangle you from me  
> Would it make you feel better  
> To watch me while I bleed?  
> All my windows still are broken  
> But I'm standing on my feet."
> 
> Writing a torture scene is not as easy as what I usually write, especially when Sadie wanted to go her own way and act how she wanted to act. Even though, I honestly don't agree with most of her choices in the first part.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie and Nate.

When Sadie woke up she was laying on a cool, damp floor. She moved slightly and winced at the slight pain she felt. She assumed the pain was probably from her having been thrown into the small, pitch black, musty smelling room upon arrival. She felt like she was in a dungeon that would be the setting of a horror movie. No matter how much she loved horror movies, it was a whole different situation to actually feel like you were a part of one. It no longer seemed amusing like watching a horror movie could be at times. Instead it was scary and nerve racking. It was the fear of the unknown that freaked Sadie out the most.

Sadie pushed herself up off of the floor, standing up and unneccessairly brushing off her clothes. She didn't even have time to do anything else before a door flew open and light poured into the room catching her off guard and temporairly blinding her. Once her eyes adjusted to the sudden intrusion of light, she was well aware of three new presences in the room. They were all dressed in black from their masks down to their combat boots.

The unmistakeable sound of the safety on a gun being taken off echoed through the room. Sadie's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Okay so that wasn't good at all. It didn't take a genius to realize that they definitely meant business if they were already taking the safety off the gun before even getting started with whatever they were planning on doing.

"Give us any problems and I won't hesitate to use it on you," the guy with the gun snarled at her. "Understand?"

All Sadie could manage to do was nod her head at him. Every word she could think of saying was currently stuck in her throat, refusing to come out of her mouth. One wrong word could mean the difference between life and death. Even though she wasn't dumb. She already knew she most likely wouldn't make it out of this alive unless she was saved.

Not wanting to give up on life just yet, Sadie allowed curiousity to get the best of her and she found herself asking, "Why didn't you kidnap me sooner than now?"

"We were given strict orders not to shed any blood," one of the three guys answered.

"What do you mean?" Sadie asked, trying to deny the inevitable....which was the guys asking questions and killing her when they didn't get the answers they wanted.

"Our orders were to get you but not to kill anyone in the process. And because your "bodyguards" were always with you nine times out of ten it was hard to follow all of the orders," the other one without the gun explained. "But we finally managed."

"Seriously? Who wants something so badly but wouldn't do _anything_ to get it?" Sadie asked herself but quickly realized that she'd asked it out loud.

"Enough with the questions," the guy with the gun hissed. "It's our turn now."

Well that didn't go on for as long as she had hoped it would. She was trying to stall the inevitable for how ever long she could.

Sadie didn't even give any of them the chance to ask anything. She already knew what they were going to ask. "I don't know anything. I don't know where he is either. Unless the grave counts."

"So you're gonna make this hard on all of us then?" the guy with the gun snarled.

"I'm not making this hard on anybody!" Sadie exclaimed, figuring that if she was gonna end up dying anyways that she'd at least go with her dignity in tact. "I don't know anything!"

"Obviously you know something if you knew what was going to be asked before it was even asked," one of the guys without the gun pointed out.

"I didn't ask you!" Sadie hissed and instantly felt a hand connect with her face. "Fuck!" she exclaimed at the stinging sensation in her cheek.

Seconds later she felt the barrel of the gun being placed against her head. "What did I tell you earlier?"

What Sadie did next took even her by shock. Instead of answering the guy's question, she reached forward and pushed with all her might against him. Then she dove to the side just in time for the gun to go off and for the bullet to lodge itself into her shoulder as opposed to her head.

"So you're a dumb bitch, too?!" the guy hissed, adding insult to injury as he kicked her when she was already down on the ground, clutching her shoulder in pain.

"Obviously not as dumb as you think," Sadie said through clenched teeth. "My shoulders got the bullet...not my head," Sadie muttered under her breath.

The guy stood over her, pointing the gun straight at her head. "Say that again. I fucking dare you," he threatened.

"What are you going to do if I do? Kill me?" Sadie asked, looking up at him. "You kill me, then you don't get the information that you want," Sadie taunted him. Then she immediately recanted. Let the mind games begin. "Even though, I really don't know anything."

"Well then I guess I'll just have to kill you if you don't know anything."

Suddenly the other two guys came forward. One grabbed the gun away from the gun wielding man and the other spoke. "She's screwing with your head. You can't kill her. She knows more than she's leading on. She's his daughter for crying out loud. There's no way that she really doesn't know where her dad is. What daughter doesn't?"

"This one. Unless like I said before...if the grave counts, then I know where he is," Sadie said as she slowly moved into a sitting position. "It seems you're suddenly not as badass as you were moments ago," Sadie spoke quietly, but apparently not quite enough.

She was suddenly pulled into a standing postition by the guy who was previously holding the gun. "Just because I'm not going to kill you, it doesn't mean I'm not going to do other things," He grinned a sadistic grin. "I _will_ get the information that I want. One way or another," he assured her.

Sadie gulped nervously. Seconds later she felt the pain of the first blow to her face followed by more repeated blows to her face and stomach. As much as she wanted to defend herself, she couldn't. The other two guys were holding her back as the other one beat her almost senseless.

Lesson learned. Being uncooperative gets you hurt, so don't do it. Of course, it was too late now. Sadie had already managed to make it worse. The repeated blows to her face and midsection were unneeded proof of that. The fact that she succumbed to the pain of her injuries and lost consciousness only minutes later, even more unneeded proof.

**~themiddle~**

Ariadne ran down the hallway and stopped abruptly in front of Nate's apartment. She frantically pounded on the door, wasting no time.

"It's open!" Nate called out.

"Where is she?" Ariadne asked, throwing the door open and bursting into the apartment.

"Where's who?" Nate asked her, not making any move to get up from his spot on the couch.

"Sadie!" Ariadne exclaimed, out of breath.

"What about Sadie?"

"I know you know where she is!"

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, Ariadne," Nate said, looking at her with the blankest, most uncaring stare.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Ariadne hissed, wanting nothing more than to slap the look off his face but now was not the time for that.

Nate shrugged. "No, I really don't now."

"You know a lot more than you're letting on," Ariadne spoke through clenched teeth. "Sadie was kidnapped for crying out loud! And you're sitting here acting like you're unphased and that you know nothing at all when in actuality you probably know more than any of us do."

Nate raised an eyebrow and asked her in a challenging tone, "Do I now?"

"Sadie's life is at risk, Nate! Now is not the time to act like a total douche bag!" Ariadne yelled, her hatred for Nate growing with each and every passing second.

Nate sighed still unphased.

Ariadne scoffed. "You jackass! You are truly one very evil person who only cares about himself!" she hissed, shaking her head in disbelief. "You obviously never really loved her like you always said you did," Ariadne seethed at him, turning to storm out.

"There's an abandoned warehouse," Nate suddenly said, standing up right before she could leave the apartment.

She stopped abruptly and turned to look at him.

"Where at?" she asked.

Nate ignored the question and slightly smirked, "I'll tell you where at on one condition."

"Nate," Ariadne hissed at him in a threatening tone.

"Do you want to know where she is or not?" Nate asked, crossing his arms.

"What condition?" she dared to ask, seeing no other option.

"Sadie finds out the truth about you and those two guys betraying her by performing Inception on her," Nate answered with a devious smirk playing over his facial features.

And just like that, it was as if suddenly the world had stopped because of just that one statement.

**~themiddle~**

Sadie came to sometime later, but this time she quickly found out she was in a sitting position and she couldn't move. Looking down, she realized she was sitting in a chair, her legs tied to the front chair legs and each of her arms tied down to the chair's arms. She tried to move her arms and legs, but she was tied too tightly and the more she moved the tighter the ropes felt like they got around her.

The pain in her face, midsection and shoulder were almost unbearable. But there was nothing she could do about any of her wounds. Being kidnapped and held captive by three guys who wanted information that she didn't have truly sucked. She almost wished she could erase the past two years from her life and say no to Nate when he asked her out that one time that she finally caved. It would definitely beat being in this predicament. But unfortunately, time travel did not exist.

"Look who's finally awake again," a voice said taunting her, causing Sadie to look in the direction the voice came from.

"Just let me go," Sadie said quietly. "I don't know anything."

"We'll let you go once you tell us what we want to know," the guy wearing a mask told her.

"I told you. I don't know anything," Sadie replied, wincing slightly as she moved only an inch in the wrong direction and pain shot through her.

"It's a shame that you haven't had enough to cave yet?" a different voice asked as she saw a second man enter the room.

"No, don't. I can't...no more, please. Please no more," Sadie pleaded close to tears again.

"Well then tell us what we want to know!" The man yelled at her. "Where's your dad?"

"He's dead! In his freaking grave somewhere!" Sadie exclaimed quickly turning her head when she saw a fist coming at her.

The blow to the back of her head was enough to make her and the chair topple over. It hurt worse when Sadie's head hit the concrete floor. She didn't have time to cry or do anything before she and the chair were being picked back up and placed in an upright position.

"Tell us the truth!" a third one said entering the room as well.

Sadie couldn't believe her luck. Of course, it'd be three guys. Not one, not two, but three of them. God only knew if there'd be more. Or if the others would just stay out there guarding the place just in case. Even through the pain and as the minutes and hours went by, Sadie continued to hope and pray that it wouldn't be much longer before Arthur and Eames burst through the door to save her. She refused to believe it wouldn't happen. It was all she had left to make her fight for her life longer.


	14. The Truth Can Be Heartbreaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song; Dangerous To Know by Hilary Duff
> 
> "Some secrets need to be kept  
> Some stories should never be told  
> Some reasons shouldn't be understood  
> They just might turn your blood cold
> 
> Who needs all the answers?  
> Who takes all the chances?  
> Who said the truth's gonna save you?  
> When the truth can be dangerous."
> 
> I'm sad right now! This is the final chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or its characters. I only own Sadie.

It had felt like an eternity since the torture had started up yet again. Sadie continued sticking to her guns by telling them that she knew nothing. That her dad was dead and that she hadn't known anything about the program that they so badly wanted. Each time, however, she earned a painful blow to the face or on occasion her stomach. Sadie could only imagine what her face would look like if she got out of here alive.

Sadie cried out as another sharp pain coarsed through her body, "I told you already! My dad is dead! He has been dead for weeks now!"

One of the guys insisted with an annoyed tone of voice, "No, he's not. Quit lying to us."

"He is dead! Who the hell would lie about such a thing?!" Sadie hissed, not caring whether she got hit again; this was getting ridiculous. "My life doesn't mean enough to me for me to make up such a fucking lie just to stay alive!"

Her face and stomach were already going to be bruised as it is. What damage would a few more do that the first ones hadn't already? Suprisingly, the hit that she had expected never came.

The first guy who had been doing most of the pain inflicting laughed. "So they really did lie to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Sadie asked, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach upon hearing that she'd been lied to by whoever _they_ were. _They_ were obviously important people to her if the man was actually laughing about them betraying her.

The second guy then said, "Just show her the pictures."

Sadie looked up at them and dared to ask, "What pictures?"

The third guy suddenly came up with some pictures and showed Sadie recent pictures of her dad alive and well.

Sadie's eyes widened. No, it couldn't be. Her dad was dead. They said he was dead. Although, she never did believe it at first...but then she woke up one morning and it suddenly hit her that her dad was really dead.

"Oh my god!" Sadie exclaimed as she finally put all of the pieces together. Arthur was a point man, Ariadne was an architect, and Eames was a forger. They performed Inception on her. "They lied to me!" she shrieked. "They fucking betrayed me!"

No one had time to say or do anything else before the door burst open. Everything afterwards was a flash. All she heard was yelling, gunshots, and loud footsteps. The next thing she knew Arthur and Eames were there in front of her. Sadie tried to contain the anger that was quickly consuming her as Arthur kneeled before her to untie her feet and Eames untied her hands from behind the chair.

"Your face," Arthur said, reaching out to touch her.

Sadie glared at him and angrily slapped his hand away. She was not in the mood for nor did she want his pity. She stood up abruptly, wincing as the pain in her stomach, arms, and face sent her toppling over as soon as she was completely free of the ropes that had been containing her. Arthur and Eames both helped her up and even though she could barely stand on her own two feet, Sadie forced herself to power through it.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me. Arthur," she hissed through clenched teeth shaking them both off of her. "You don't touch me either!" She seethed at Eames.

Arthur and Eames were both shocked by her anger, but there was no time to question it. They had to get out of there now if they wanted to live. There was absolutely no time wasted in getting out of there. Just as they had gotten out into the open there was a swarm of guys with guns. Sadie was pushed behind a hard surface followed by Arthur and Eames who were reloading and shooting back at the enemies.

Sadie was in so much freaking pain, but she was even more angry than hurt. Well okay, in a sense she was hurt really badly, but it wasn't hurt in the sense of physical pain. It was more emotional pain. Sadie was livid about what her kidnappers had showed her and the revelation that had come seconds after seeing the pictures. Her anger towards Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne helped drown out some of the pain coarsing through her veins.

She glanced around to see if there was any way for her to get out of the line of fire. When she noticed a small deserted alley nearby, Sadie decided it was worth a shot and stood up quickly to take off in the direction of the alley. She knew it wasn't the wisest thing to do, but she couldn't bare to be anywhere near either Arthur or Eames. They had betrayed her trust and she wanted nothing to do with them. Even if they had just saved her from what was sure to have ended up being a certain death situation for her had they not found her when they did. That didn't matter when it was topped with betrayal.

**~themiddle~**

Sadie hadn't made it but so far before Arthur and Eames had caught up with her. In the end, the pain had been too much for her to handle. It had helped her realize quicker just how stupid she was to let her anger get the best of her. She was still as angry as ever at them, but she wasn't completely stupid. She let them help her to the safe house because anything beat being uncomfortable and in pain at once.

She avoided their questions and ignored everything they said. Once she was cleaned up a bit, as much as she could be without going to a hospital, she wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep. More importantly she wanted to be alone. Lucky for her, neither Arthur nor Eames questioned her after she made it clear that she wasn't in the mood, and they left her alone for the remainder of the night.

Sadie winced at the pain when she leaned against the small bathroom counter. Just looking at herself in the mirror made her burst into tears. Her face was swollen...almost every inch of it. She looked like a victim from a gruesome horror movie. When she lifted her shirt, she could see bruises that had already formed and other brusies in the process of forming. It wasn't hard to tell that she had a few cracked ribs as well.

She couldn't believe her luck. How could she be so unlucky enough to have a spy as a father? A spy father who sort of had a big part in her appearance now. Maybe not directly, but indirectly was just as bad in this case. And why did she have a cousin who would lie to her about her dad being dead and who would help perform an invasion on her mind to plant such a cruel idea into her head?

Also, why did she have a boyfriend...well, ex boyfriend now...who would invade her dreams and mind without her permission and lie to her about it? Also, why did she have a so called "friend" that she thought she felt something for who would lie to her and help invade her mind as well? Although, she could say in a way she blew that one herself by not telling him the truth. Maybe things would've been different on his part had he known Sadie's true feelings of sorts for him? Although, they sure did not change Arthur's actions. What had she ever done in the past to deserve any of this?

Needless to say, Sadie didn't do much sleeping at all that night.

**~themiddle~**

It was light out when Sadie woke up. She hadn't slept much, so she was still exhausted. Pain was still coursing through her body as she moved to get up. She heard voices coming from outside of the room she was in and slowly walked over to the door, pressing her ear up against it to listen as closely as she could to try to hear and decipher what was being said through the door that acted as a muffler.

"All three of the ones who tortured her are dead?" she heard Ariadne ask.

"Yeah, they are," she heard Eames answer. "Most of the others are as well."

"Does she really know the truth now?" Ariadne questioned captiously, as if she was afraid to hear the truth about it.

"Yes," Arthur answered.

Sadie decided that it was time for her to get the truth and then to leave. She had decided while tossing and turning painfully throughout the night that she wanted to get the truth and then to get as far away from all three of them as she possibly could. Sadie took a step back from the door and twisted the handle, pulling it open and walking slowly out into the open warehouse.

"When did you do it?" Sadie asked, not being able to stop herself from knowing the whole truth even though she knew she wouldn't like it.

Arthur, Ariadne, and Eames all snapped their heads in her direction.

"When did you do it?" Sadie repeated her previous question.

"The night you stayed at my place," Arthur answered, the shame in his voice was very evident and he made sure to avoid eye contact with her at all costs.

Sadie was shocked and felt even worse than she had seconds ago. "Wait, this...this thing between us all started because you wanted to perform Inception on me to make me believe my dad was dead?!"

"It was his idea."

"What?" Sadie shrieked, not being able to believe her ears as she walked up to Arthur. "Who the hell do you think you are?! My dad would never do such a thing!" she hissed, slapping him across the face before she could stop herself.

"He did, though. It was his idea, Sadie," Ariadne said, stepping between Arthur and Sadie.

Sadie shook her head. "No, he wouldn't. He...he wouldn't!" Sadie exclaimed, taking a step back from all of them. "I can't believe I trusted any of you. I just...no. I can't believe that any of you would do this to me."

"Sadie, love..." Eames started to cut in.

Sadie interrupted him instantly, hissing, "You betrayed me, too, Eames! I trusted you just as much as I trusted Arthur and Ariadne. I told you things that nobody else even knows...and yet, it was all built on a lie!" Sadie shook her head in absolute disbelief.

"Sadie, it really was your dad's idea," Ariadne spoke again before Sadie could protest.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something, but Ariadne cut her off before any words would come out.

"We only did it in hopes that it'd protect you more if you thought your dad was dead. If you thought that he was dead, then it'd be easy to assume you were too busy grieving and that you knew nothing about where he really was," she explained their reasoning.

"And did it protect me?" Sadie asked through clenched teeth.

No one answered and no one made eye contact with her either. The shame they were all feeling was evident without even needing to see or hear it..

"Yeah, exactly. My face is so freaking bruised and swollen! I have a brusied stomach, some broken ribs, and a bullet lodged into my shoulder! Yet because of the gun shot wound, I can't go to the hospital because a police statement always follows a gun shot wound and there's no way that I could tell the police the truth. I am stuck feeling miserable like this. So really...can you honestly say I was protected by what you three did?" Sadie asked sarcastically. "You all betrayed me for no reason at all. It was all for nothing in the end!"

"Sadie, please..." Ariadne began to say, taking a step forward.

Sadie said nothing for a moment before asking, "How much did he pay you?"

"Is that really important?"

Sadie didn't pay attention to who asked the question, instead she just answered speaking to all three of them instead, "Obviously if you were all willing to go through all that unneccessary trouble to perform Inception on me to plant the stupid idea of my dad being dead in my mind, he must have paid you a whole lot."

"Way more than we should've taken."

"Sadie, please, just..." Ariadne spoke up.

Sadie shook her head and held her hand up to stop her from saying anything else. She had to get out of here. She couldn't be in the same room as any of them any longer. Hell, she didn't even want to be in the same country as them right now. They had all known the truth and lied to her. They had betrayed her trust in one of the worst ways possible. At this point, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to forgive any of them.

"No, just no. Don't say another word," Sadie said shaking her head in disbelief. "You know what? Just...you can all just go to hell! Thank you for being such great family and friends" Sadie exclaimed sarcastically, turning and storming out of the warehouse and most importantly out of their lives.

Now if only it really could have been that easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel to this story is up. It is titled Unbroken!


End file.
